Trud, July 18, 2001, p. 2
Seven vessels of the Northern Fleet, led by the anti-submarine warship Severomorsk, are now at the place where the Kursk submarine sank in August 2000. The Severomorsk will serve as headquarters for the salvage operation. Near the Severomorsk there are a number of Norwegian surveillance ships, and the Klavdia Yelanskaya vessel.
Foreign intelligence services have been monitoring the Kursk situation for almost a year. Lieutenant-General Ivan Fedin, Commander of the Naval Aviation, has admitted that during the 11 months since the disaster, Northern Fleet pilots have detected some underwater craft trying to approach the area.
However, Russian analysts are sure that such operations are futile. Northern Fleet warships which have been guarding the area where the Kursk sank have detonated depth charges several times in order to eliminate unidentified underwater craft.
