Eight Investigating Groups Are Established To Work On Board The "Kursk" Submarine

Eight investigating groups are established to work on board the "Kursk" nuclear submarine. The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov reported that the groups would be able to start their work in full in a few days when water would be completely pumped out of the floating dock and the submarine itself. He told that the floating dock would be fully drained within the next two days, water from the submarine's compartments would be removed during another 3-4 days. Specialists from the North Fleet, representatives of the Moscow and Saint Petersburg military districts were included in the composition of the investigating groups. The Admiral stated that members of the investigating groups underwent special psychological selection process and they also within a year studied the structure of the nuclear submarine to know where and what parameters to measure to conduct required examination. In his turn Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov reported that on Wednesday the investigating groups would start their work with examination of the upper deck of the "Kursk" nuclear submarine. According to him, presently they consider three versions of the "Kursk" catastrophe causes which would be elaborated till the end of the investigation until all examinations were fulfilled. At the first stage they prescribed twenty examinations in technical sphere only. The Prosecutor General reported that depending upon the forward movement inside the submarine new examinations would be prescribed. According to him, simultaneously legal and medical examinations would be conducted as, according to Ustinov, "the condition of bodies of (dead submariners) might provide a lot of information to analyse what happened to the submarine". On Tuesday Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov and Commander of the North Fleet Vyacheslav Popov climbed on the upper deck of the "Kursk" nuclear submarine. But they failed to move beyond the fourth compartment as the major part of the submarine stationed in the floating dock was still underwater.