Robert Moore: Kursk: Putin's First Crisis and the Russian Navy's Darkest Hour

STATEMENT BY THE KREMLIN IN AUGUST 2000:

For courage and heroism shown during performance of a sailor’s duty, the Kursk commanding officer Captain G. P. Lyachin has been given the rank of Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) on 26 August 2000. All 118 crew members are awarded the Courage Order (posthumously) and are inscribed for ever in the memory of the 7th Division of the 1st Submarine Flotilla of the Northern Fleet.

FIRST COMPARTMENT

1. Senior Midshipman Abdulkhadur Ildarov (Dagestan Republic)

2. Midshipman Alexei Zubov (Ukraine)

3. Seaman Ivan Nefedkov (Sverdlovsk Region)

4. Seaman Maxim Borzhov (Vladimir Region)

5. Seaman Alexei Shulgin (Archangel Region)

6. Senior Lieutenant Arnold Borisov (Dagestan Republic)

7. Mamed Gadjiev (Dagestan Republic)

SECOND COMPARTMENT

Visiting from the 7th Submarine Division Headquarters:

1. Captain First Rank Vladimir Bagriantsev (Crimea)

2. Captain Second Rank Yury Shepetnov (Crimea)

3. Captain Second Rank Viktor Belogun (Ukraine)

4. Captain Second Rank Vasily Isaenko (Crimea)

5. Captain Third Rank Marat Baygarin (St Petersburg)

Crew :

6. Captain First Rank Gennady Lyachin (Volgograd Region)

7. Captain Second Rank Sergei Dudko (Belorussia)

8. Captain Second Rank Alexander Shubin (Crimea)

9. Captain-Lieutenant Maxim Safonov (Moscow)

10. Senior Lieutenant Sergei Tylik (Murmansk)

11. Senior Lieutenant Vadim Bubniv (Ulyanovsk Region)

12. Captain Third Rank Andrei Silogava (Crimea)

13. Captain-Lieutenant Alexei Shevchuk (Murmansk)

14. Senior Lieutenant Andrei Ponarin (St Petersburg)

15. Senior Lieutenant Boris Geletin (Murmansk)

16. Senior Lieutenant Sergei Uzky (Archangel Region)

17. Captain Second Rank Yury Sablin (Crimea)

18. Captain Third Rank Andrei Milutin (St Petersburg)

19. Captain-Lieutenant Sergei Kokurin (Voronezh Region)

20. Midshipman Vladimir Khivuk (Kursk)

21. Captain Third Rank Alexander Sadkov (Amur Region)

22. Captain-Lieutenant Mikhail Rodionov (Crimea)

23. Senior Lieutenant Sergei Yerakhtin (Murmansk)

24. Midshipman Yakov Samovarov (Archangel)

25. Senior Midshipman Alexander Ruzlev (Murmansk)

26. Midshipman Konstantin Kozyrev (Murmansk)

27. Senior Midshipman Vladimir Fesak (Ukraine)

28. Midshipman Andrei Poliansky (Krasnodar Region)

29. Midshipman Sergei Keslinsky (Kostroma Region)

30. Midshipman Sergei Griaznykh (Archangel Region)

31. Seaman Dmitri Mirtov (Komi Republic)

32. Petty Officer Dmitri Leonov (Moscow)

33. Senior Lieutenant Maxim Rvanin (Archangel Region)

34. Seaman Andrei Driuchenko (Archangel Region)

35. Senior Lieutenant Alexei Ivanov-Pavlov (Ukraine)

36. Midshipman Viktor Paramonenko (Ukraine)

THIRD COMPARTMENT

1. Captain-Lieutenant Dmitri Repnikov (Crimea)

2. Captain Third Rank Andrei Rudakov (Moscow)

3. Captain-Lieutenant Sergei Fiterer (Kaliningrad Region)

4. Captain-Lieutenant Oleg Nasikovsky (Kaliningrad Region)

5. Captain-Lieutenant Vitaly Solorev (Bryansk Region)

6. Captain-Lieutenant Sergei Loginov (Ukraine)

7. Captain-Lieutenant Andrei Koroviakov (St Petersburg)

8. Captain-Lieutenant Alexei Korobkov (Murmansk)

9. Captain-Lieutenant Alexander Gudkov (Kaliningrad Region)

10. Captain Third Rank Viacheslav Bezsokirny (Ukraine)

11. Senior Midshipman Igor Yerasov (Voronezh)

12. Senior Midshipman Vladimir Svechkarev (Nizhny Novgorod Region)

13. Senior Midshipman Sergei Kalinin (Ukraine)

14. Senior Midshipman Igor Fedorichev (Tula Region)

15. Midshipman Maxim Vishniakov (Ukraine)

16. Midshipman Sergei Chernyshov (Crimea)

17. Midshipman Mikhail Belov (Nizhny Novgorod Region)

18. Midshipman Pavel Tavolzhansky (Belgorod Region)

19. Senior Midshipman Sergei Vlasov (Murmansk)

20. Midshipman Sergei Rychkov (Uzbekistan)

21. Petty Officer Yuri Annenkov (Kursk Region)

22. Seaman Dmitri Kotkov (Vologda Region)

23. Dubbing Seaman Nikolai Pavlov (Voronezh Region)

24. Seaman Ruslan Trianichev (Vologda Region)

FOURTH COMPARTMENT

1. Senior Lieutenant Denis Kirichenko (Ulyanovsk Region)

2. Captain of Medical Service Alexei Stankevich (Ukraine, St Petersburg)

3. Midshipman Vitaly Romaniuk (Crimea)

4. Senior Midshipman Vasily Kichkiruk (Ukraine)

5. Senior Midshipman Anatoly Beliaev (Ryazan Region)

6. Chief Ship’s Petty Officer Salovat Yansanov (Bashkortostan Republic)

7. Seaman Sergei Vitchenko (St Petersburg Region)

8. Seaman Oleg Yevdokimov (Kursk Region)

9. Seaman Dmitri Staruseltsev (Kursk Region)

10. Seaman Alexander Khalepo (Komi Republic)

11. Seaman Alexei Kolomiytsev (Komi Republic)

12. Seaman Igor Loginov (Komi Republic)

FOURTH (B) COMPARTMENT

1. Captain Third Rank Dmitri Murachev (Crimea)

2. Captain-Lieutenant Denis Pshenichnikov (Crimea)

3. Captain-Lieutenant Sergei Lybushkin (Nizhny Novgorod Region)

4. Captain Third Rank Ilya Shchavinsky (St Petersburg)

5. Captain-Lieutenant Alexander Vasiliev (Crimea Republic)

6. Captain Third Rank Nikolai Belozorov (Voronezh Region)

7. Senior Midshipman Ivan Tsymbal (Ukraine)

8. Midshipman Oleg Troyan (Azerbaijan)

9. Chief Petty Officer Alexander Neustroev (Tomsk Region)

10. Seaman Alexei Larionov (Komi Republic)

11. Midshipman Vladimir Shablatov

FIFTH COMPARTMENT

1. Senior Lieutenant Vitaly Kuznetsov

2. Senior Midshipman Nailkh Khafizov (Bashkortostan Republic)

3. Senior Midshipman Yevgeny Gorbunov

4. Midshipman Valery Baybarin (Chelaybinsk Region)

SIXTH COMPARTMENT

1. Captain-Lieutenant Rashid Ariapov (Uzbekistan)

2. Midshipman Alexei Balanov (Chuvash Republic)

3. Senior Lieutenant Alexei Mitiaev (St Petersburg)

4. Chief Petty Officer Viacheslav Maynagashev (Khakass Republic)

5. Seaman Alexei Korkin (Archangel Region)

SEVENTH COMPARTMENT

1. Captain-Lieutenant Dmitri Kolesnikov (St Petersburg)

2. Midshipman Fanis Ishmudatov (Bashkortostan Republic)

3. Petty Officer Second Class Vladimir Sadovoi (Nizhny Novgorod Region)

4. Seaman Roman Kubikov (Kursk Region)

5. Seaman Alexei Nekrasov (Kursk Region)

6. Petty Officer First Class Rishat Zubaydullin (Ulyanovsk Region)

7. Seaman Ilya Naletov (Vologda Region)

8. Petty Officer Second Class Roman Anikiev (Murmansk)

9. Senior Midshipman Vladimir Kozaderov (Lipetsk Region)

EIGHTH COMPARTMENT

1. Captain-Lieutenant Sergei Sadilenko (Ukraine)

2. Senior Midshipman Viktor Kuznetsov (Kursk Region)

3. Chief Ship’s Petty Officer Robert Gessler (Bashkortostan Republic)

4. Senior Midshipman Andrei Borisov (Ryazan Republic)

5. Seaman Roman Martynov (Komi Republic)

6. Seaman Viktor Sidukhin (Komi Republic)

7. Seaman Yury Borisov (Komi Republic)

NINTH COMPARTMENT

1. Senior Lieutenant Alexander Brazhkin (Crimea Republic)

2. Midshipman Vasily Ivanov

3. Midshipman Mikhail Bochkov (Crimea Republic)

My deepest gratitude goes to the wives and families of the Kursk officers and sailors, so many of whom offered me unfailing assistance and friendship in the immediate years following the tragedy. Their enduring pride for lost sons and husbands and their belief that Russia deserves a military leadership that is open and honest remain an inspiration. To them, especially to the families of Sergei Tylik and Dmitri Kolesnikov, I offer my humble thanks. The spirit of these families is remarkable. Seventy children lost fathers in the Kursk accident and many of the young boys had a single aim: to follow in their father’s footsteps and join Russia’s submarine flotillas.