We will fight for the life of every one of our seamen. Moscow's announcement that the crew was almost certainly dead, just as the British rescue team arrived on Saturday, could be seen as an attempt by some Russian officials to show that the Western squads could do nothing. A government commission investigating the disaster said Saturday that the Kursk suffered a massive explosion, which ripped through the confined space of the submarine. The explosion apparently was in the forward torpedo compartment, which was loaded with up to 30 warheads. But it's unclear what triggered the explosion.
Russian officials cite either a collision or an internal problem.
Klebanov said Saturday a Second World War mine or a collision with a foreign submarine were possible scenarios. The U.S. navy, which had two submarines in the area at the time, said none of its vessels were involved in the incident. Klebanov said there were up to three foreign submarines in the area when the Kursk was lost. A probable scenario was that a torpedo in the Kursk's forward compartment exploded, setting off a much bigger explosion. U.S. and Norwegian authorities detected two explosions in the area Aug. 12 at the time the Kursk was lost.