Anger at Kursk area flypasts

Kursk: Salvage operation to tow it back to Murmansk

By CNN's Ryan Chilcote

MURMANSK, Russia (CNN) -- The commander of the Kursk nuclear submarine salvage operation has complained about the military activity in the area.

Vice Admiral Mikhail Motzak said there was disproportionate and "extraneous" number of Norwegian and British ships and planes near the Barents Sea salvage site.

The complex operation to lift the Kursk, which sank last year with the loss of all 118 crew, began two weeks ago.

At the start of a news conference in Murmansk, Motzak appeared visibly irritated about the reconnaissance operations.

Motzak, chief of staff of the Russian navy's northern fleet and the special expedition commander for the Kursk operation, said the planes and ships could lead to accidents and distract the Russians from the salvage operation.

He said there had been already been 10 flyovers in the area.

The Kursk, one of Russia's largest submarines, sank on August 12 last year in international waters, 80 km (50 miles) off the Russian coast.

IN-DEPTH Raising of the Kursk   • Russia's military plight   • Kursk namesake   • Comparative sizes   • Diagram: Last refuge   • Damage to the sub   • Timeline of sinking   • News search   • Message board   • Quick vote   • In-depth: Sub disaster   • Download salvage images     From kursksalvage.com   • Kursk salvage animation     From parallelgraphics.com     (External sites not endorsed by CNN)

All 118 men on board died in the accident, the exact cause of which remains unknown.

Russia contracted with an international consortium of companies to lift the Kursk, but it has not invited any foreign military to take part.

During the salvage operation, the Kursk will be connected by steel cables to 26 hydraulic lifts anchored to a giant pontoon, and towed to the Arctic port of Murmansk.

Divers have been cutting holes in the submarine's hull to attach the cables. The main lifting phase of the Kursk is scheduled for mid-September.

Murmansk, the world's largest city north of the Polar Circle, lies on Russia's northwest coast just east of Russia's border with Norway.