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Kursk Web site lifts sub secrecy
By CNN's Mike Harrison LONDON, England (CNN) -- Russia has launched a Web site about the Kursk salvage operation -- countering allegations of secrecy about its nuclear submarine. The independent English language site -- www.kursk141.org -- comes a year after Moscow was criticised by relatives of dead sailors, the press and Western observers over its lack of information. The Kursk sank to the bottom of the icy Barents Sea off the Norwegian coast last August, killing all 118 men on board. Unveiling the Web site in London on Wednesday, Sergei Yastrazhemskiy, assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said: "We have learnt from the past. "A year ago, for sure, it would have been better if we had supplied more information, more quickly.
"Our presence here is evidence of the Russian government's commitment to find the truth about Kursk. "So far we do not yet have all the answers about what happened last August. Our investigation is looking at all possibilities. "When we get all the information and the final answers we will share it not only with the Russian people and Russian society, but with the rest of the world. "The Web site is a genuine attempt to offer detailed information about the plans to lift the Kursk. "All around the world, there has been a huge amount of concern for the sailors who died and interest about our plans to raise the vessel. "It is important that accurate information about the raising of the Kursk is available as widely as possible." The Web site is supported by the Russian national news service Strana.Ru, TV company ORT and the Interfax news agency. Organisers say it is editorially and financially independent of the Russian government. It contains a 3-D model of the lifting operation and allows visitors to follow all stages of the retrieval. "The site will contain the latest news as well as archive information about the tragedy and detailed reports about the plans to lift the Kursk," said Vadim Malkin, Strana.Ru's information director. "The government is committed to ensuring information is available as quickly as possible and we'll be reporting that, but we will also be reporting the views of other experts and commentators." So far 12 bodies have been recovered from the Kursk and Putin has promised that the submarine will be lifted. Officials then hope to determine why it sank. Raising the submarine involves detaching the front compartment. Then the rest of the vessel is due to be connected by cables to 26 hydraulic lifts anchored to a giant pontoon. The Kursk should then be towed to the Arctic port of Murmansk. |
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