Izvestia, June 20, 2002, p. 3
The government commission for investigating the Kursk submarine sinking met for the second-last time yesterday, in St. Petersburg. Ilia Klebanov, who chairs the commission, reported that experts had rejected two of the three main theories for the disaster: the submarine did not collide with a World War II mine or any other vessel. Thus, the submarine sank following the explosion of a 650-millimeter torpedo, which led to the detonation of the ammunition in the first compartment. However, Klebanov did not identify the precise cause of the explosion. This will be known only on June 29 when the commission meets for the last time. It is then that the final conclusion will be signed; work on preparing it started yesterday. The same session will decide on the fate of the remaining fragments of the submarine’s fist compartment, which remain on the floor of the Barents Sea. Representatives of the Navy propose blowing them up, for safety reasons, as the submarine sank in a busy shipping area.
