Der Spiegel Version Of What Caused Kursk Sub's Death Bewilders Russia

The Kremlin information board is perplexed by an article carried in the recent issue of the German magazine Der Spiegel. It writes that the Kremlin is considering a version that the Kursk nuclear-powered submarine could have been sent to the bottom by a missile fired from the Petr Veliki cruiser. RIA Novosti was told on Thursday at the Kremlin information board that versions of the Kursk death have been looked into by a state investigation commission since August 2000. It has more than once officially said that a torpedo blast happened on board of the nuclear submarine. At the present moment, causes of the explosion are being ascertained, said the information board. The Federal Security Service and the Military Prosecutor's Office did not establish a joint commission, of which Der Spiegel writes. Nor, is there a document of such a commission, which ostensibly has a resolution of the Russian president, stressed the Kremlin information board. The Kremlin board regrets that such a publication was carried by an authoritative Western publication, which Der Spiegel certainly is.