Nezavisimaya Gazeta, November 2, 2001, p. 4
To clear the submarine completely, it would take three months in the least, said Admiral Vladimir Kuroedov, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. Now when almost no seawater, which served as a conserving agent for the bodies, is left inside the submarine, people have to hurry and hope for the cold, which would permit preserving the remains of the submariners.
Fifty-three bodies of crewmembers have already been found aboard the Kursk, 39 of them have been identified. The process of identification is slower now: only body parts are left on board the submarine, and it is impossible to determine to whom they belong without genetic testing.
The work of unloading the Granit cruise missiles continues in accordance with the schedule. Each of the 22 missiles will be dismantled at the Nerpa ship-repairing plant in Snezhnogorsk after warheads are separated and mid-flight engines are unloaded. By the way, the Kursk will be cut apart in the same manner. The timetable of this operation is unknown thus far.
