Russia says nuclear-powered submarine disaster is ‘state secret’

The Kremlin has said it is not planning to identify the submarine involved in Monday’s fire that cost the lives of at least 14 servicemen — or release any details about its mission. 

“Some information relates to the category of state secret,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. “It is normal practice that that such information is not released.”

Russian media have so far provided an incomplete and sometimes contradictory picture of the circumstances around the fire.

Several sources have identified the vessel as the AS-12 (also known as the Losharik) submersible, a nuclear-powered unarmed vessel capable of deep sea missions. The exact design of the submersible is shrouded in secrecy, but it is believed to operate alongside larger mothership submarine. Severomost, a local news agency, reported that the smaller submarine was tethered to the larger Podmoskovye atomic submarine as it emerged at the mouth of the Kola bay in the Barents sea and was towed to its base near Alexandrovsk. 

On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin met with his defence minister Sergei Shoigu. In the public part of that meeting, he admitted the “unusual” nature of the vessel, and confirmed that 7 first rank captains were among the 14 casualties.

Russian media have reported that the crew on board were all officers and the elite of the Russian navy. Such disclosures are likely to increase speculation as to the vessels exact mission. 

The secrecy surrounding the submersible’s mission creates obvious parallels with the 2000 sinking of the Kursk nuclear-powered submarine. The Russian navy was criticised for allowing state secrets to get in the way of the rescue operation — and President Putin, still early in his presidency, for a tone-deaf response. 

Official accounts that all 118 victims died almost immediately following two explosions on board were undermined by a later investigation that revealed that at least 23 submariners remained alive, at least for some time. 

In his press call with journalists, Mr Peskov said the Kremlin’s position was “consistent with Russian law” on state secrets.

“There should be no doubts that the head of navy has all the neccesary information,” he added.