Russia's Top-secret Deadly Sub Fire: What We Know

Two days after a fire on a Russian deep-water submersible killed 14 crew members, Moscow remains tight-lipped about the incident

Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Jul, 2019 ) :Two days after a fire on a Russian deep-water submersible killed 14 crew members, Moscow remains tight-lipped about the incident.

The Kremlin says some information about the vessel and its assignment is top secret, but this is what we do know.

What happened? According to the Russian defence ministry, a fire broke out on a scientific research deep-water vessel when it was studying the sea floor inside Russian territorial waters in the Barents Sea.

The fire was put out thanks to the "heroic actions of the team", but toxic fumes killed 14 people, the ministry said.

The accident happened on Monday, July 1, but the defence ministry only issued a statement on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said crew-members in the part of the vessel on fire managed to evacuate a civilian and then closed the hatch to contain the fire.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said the Russian leader was immediately notified. But he also said that not all information could be made public.

"There is information that is categorised as a state secret," said Dmitry Peskov, saying it was classified "in the interest of the state and state security".

Norway's radiation authority told AFP Tuesday that Moscow had informed it of a "gas explosion" on board the sub.

But the Russian defence ministry denied it had contacted Norway about the accident.

Shoigu said there were survivors of the fire but did not specify their number or offer further details.

Who was on board? President Putin on Tuesday said that the crew was "highly professional" and included seven Captain First Rank officers -- a top rank usually held by commanding officers of important ships or submarines.

Two of the crew members were holders of the Hero of Russia, a top honour awarded by the Russian president.

The governor of Saint-Petersburg Alexander Beglov said Wednesday that the crew of the submersible was based in the city. "It departed on its last trip from Saint-Petersburg," he said.

Kommersant daily said the crew was based at a military base in Petergof, a town in greater Saint-Petersburg. The base answers to the secretive Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research (GUGI), it said.

GUGI is "one of the most secret facilities in Russia," responsible for sub-surface ocean monitoring and commands atomic-powered, deep-water mini spy subs, according to Bruce Jones, an expert with defence and security analysts IHS Jane's.

The Names of the crew members have not been officially released. Under Russian law, it is illegal to publish the names of servicemen engaged in conflict or special operations.

But a cathedral in northern city Murmansk on Wednesday published first names to be mentioned in a prayer for the sailors who died.

Orthodox names given during baptism however sometimes differ from legal names in Russia. All the names released by the cathedral names are male.

What kind of vessel was involved? The Kremlin has said it will not release information about the type of vessel involved.

Russian outlets RBK and Novaya Gazeta reported, citing unnamed sources, that the accident happened on the vessel called AS-12, a mini nuclear-powered submarine capable of plunging to extreme depths and carried by a larger submarine.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov refused to comment on the reports.

What's next? Putin has sent his defence minister Shoigu to Severomorsk, where the damaged vessel is docked, to personally oversee the progress of the investigation.

The investigation is headed by Russian Navy commander Nikolai Yevmenov.

The civilian Investigative Committee said it is also looking into what happened.