Russia resisted foreign offers of help for several days but now is consulting with NATO on what its experts might be able to provide. Public anger is growing over the government's inadequate response to the disaster. And, newspaper headlines are asking why President Vladimir Putin has remained mostly silent at his holiday resort on the Black Sea. A Navy spokesman says film taken of the wrecked submarine shows extensive damage from the top to the back fin. The periscope was also still up, indicating the ship sank so fast the crew did not have time to react.
Experts say the evidence points to a powerful on-board explosion as the cause of the accident.
There are also reports now that the ship was not carrying extra rescue equipment or oxygen supplies because it had only planned to be at sea for weekend training exercises. The Kursk was the largest and newest of Russia's nuclear fleet - the pride of the Navy. Military experts also are wondering out loud about radiation leakage from the sunken nuclear-powered submarine and its affect on the crew inside and the environment outside. So far, monitors are not picking up any contamination in the area. Russia's Prime Minister now describes the situation as almost catastrophic.