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Russian Navy Denies Report on Kursk Nuclear Weapons
Russian navy on Thursday denied a report that the Russian Kursk submarine was carrying nuclear weapons onboard when sinking to the bottom of the Barents Sea last August.
"I categorically deny this information. From the first day of the catastrophe we said there were no nuclear weapons on board the Kursk," said Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy.
The news was firstly released Wednesday by a Russian State Duma member Grigory Tomchin on a Norwegian television.
Dygalo said Tomchin, who said his comments had been misinterpreted by the Norwegian television channel, had no official role regarding the Kursk and that his claims were "linked to his personal analysis and personal fantasy."
"Such statements will bring tension to society, particularly at the preparation stage for an operation to lift the sunken submarine Kursk," he added.
The press secretary of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, Karsten Klepsvik, also said on the same day that Norway had no grounds to question information offered by Russian authorities and their pledges that there were no nuclear weapons on board the sunken submarine Kursk.
The Kursk, one of Russia's most advanced submarines, plunged to the bottom of the Barents Sea last August during a training exercise.
Tests around the wreck site have shown no signs of radioactivity from the vessel's two nuclear reactors. Russia says salvaging it will avoid any possible environmental damage.
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