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A new Russian submarine packed with nuclear firepower and capable of taking out an aircraft carrier or even an entire city has sailed for the first time. The 604ft Belgorod, the largest submarine to be built in the last 30 years, was put to sea for the first time yesterday as Russia flexed its naval muscles in the wake of an incident with British destroyer HMS Defender in the Black Sea. Experts fear the 79ft-long torpedoes – dubbed Poseidon – could be detonated underwater to cause a radioactive tsunami and threaten coastal cities with waves up to 300ft high. The...

Losharik is at quay on the Zvezdocka side of the naval yards in Severodvinsk. Photo: Google Earth / Barents ObserverReactor core unloaded from fire-hit Losharik submarine After long delays and one month of preparation, the spent nuclear fuel elements are now lifted out of the reactor, paving the way for modernization of the mysterious deep-diving spy-submarine at the yard in Severodvinsk. Read in Russian | Читать по-русски By Polina Leganger Bronder April 04, 2021 On July 1st, 2019, Russia’s Russian deep-diving nuclear-powered submarine AS-31, nicknamed Losharik, was seriously damaged in a fire, killing all 14 officers on board. The...

The crew on a nuclear-powered Russian military submarine prevented a “planetary catastrophe,” according to a top naval officer who spoke at the funeral for the 14 sailors who died during a fire on the vessel. Captain Sergei Pavlov, an aide to the commander of Russia’s navy, said Sunday the sailors “saved the lives of their colleagues, saved the vessel and prevented a planetary catastrophe.” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said there were no signs the incident could have caused a larger catastrophe. “As for the reactor, there are no problems with that,” he said. After days of secrecy about the...

"Krasnaya Zvezda, the official newspaper of the Russian Ministry of Defense, has included a heretofore unseen drawing of the Project 09852 Belgorod, a heavily modified Oscar II-class submarine outfitted for various "special projects" missions, in its latest report about a fire that killed 14 sailors onboard a still-unnamed Russian submarine on Monday. Russia officially launched the still-under-construction Belgorod, which is presently the world's longest submarine, in April 2019. At the same time, new details regarding the July 1st accident have begun to trickle out, although they are limited in number and some are unconfirmed in nature." ... "We have no...

Did A Deadly Fire Break Out On A Secret Russian Spy Sub? Here's What We Know About 'Losharik' By Mike Eckel July 02, 2019 It's one of the more unique, more capable, and more distinctive vessels in Russia's naval fleet. And it now appears to hold the distinction of being the latest Russian naval ship to suffer a catastrophic -- and, so far, unexplained -- incident. Russia's Defense Ministry said on July 2 that a submarine operated by its main naval research and development unit had suffered a fire on board, killing 14 sailors. The ship was reportedly operating in...

The Russian deep-water submersion on which the fire occurred on July 1 is the nuclear submarine AS-12, known as "Losharik." The incident occurred on July 1 at about 20.30. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported the death of 14 submariners in the "deep-water apparatus" based inSeveromorsk.