ONCE again Russia's technical capabilities were called into question. Unlike the 2000 sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, when all 118 aboard died, the latest undersea Russian drama ended happily, thanks to British and American intervention. As the Russian navy scrambled to save seven sailors trapped in a submarine in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. The efforts of the Russian navy to rescue the submarine failed miserably and it was left to Western teams to come to the rescue. The key part in the rescue operation mission was played by a sophisticated robotic vehicle, the Super Scorpio, flown in especially from Britain. The United States also flew in equipment at Russia's request. Commander Ian Riches, the British Royal Navy officer who led the successful operation said that the British team are over the moon that they have got these guys out alive. In an unprecedented move Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov thanked the British Royal Navy team which saved the Russian mini- submarine. Moreover, he offered Russian navy watches to the British commander and two of his men piloted the Scorpio-45 robot during the rescue mission. He added that he would ask the British team to be awarded with medals the same as the Russian submarine's seven sailors. Ivanov stated that he had personally thanked his British counterpart John Reid by telephone. However, fierce criticism was directed at the military in the Russian newspapers. Some newspapers criticised the Russian navy for waiting more than a day before revealing the submarine accident accusing it of failing to learn the lessons of the Kursk 2000 submarine disaster. According to the opposition Nezavisimaya Gazzetta, "it seems the submarine did not have the secret charts" marking the antenna system in which they became trapped. "It was cold, cold, very cold. I can't even describe it," says one crew member of the seven men who endured darkness and frigid temperature for three days until their Russian mini- submarine was saved from the pacific floor by a British remote control vehicle. The Russian submarine itself may not have been seaworthy, the centrist Izvestia daily wrote, quoting a local television journalist who had previously interviewed the captain's wife. "She was very emotional, saying that her husband had often informed his commander that the mini-sub needed urgent repairs." In the end, however, foreign expertise won the day. "Saved!" read a banner of the liberal Russian daily Novaya Gazzetta accompanied with a picture of the submarine resurfacing taking nearly the whole of its front page.
