On Saturday, July 6, 14 members of the crew of the deep-sea research apparatus of the Navy of Russia were buried at the military memorial Serafimov cemetery in St. Petersburg. Submariners died in a fire.
During the mourning ceremony, the highest state awards - the stars of the Hero of the Russian Federation and the Order of Courage were handed over to the families of the victims. They all 14 submariners were posthumously awarded for the courage, heroism and dedication shown in the performance of military duty.
Their relatives and veterans, colleagues and veterans of the Navy, representatives of the Defense Ministry, the main command of the fleet, the command of the troops of the Western Military District and others took part in the ceremony of farewell and giving the last military honors to the dead officers.
The funeral ceremony was held nearby, the passage to the Serafimov cemetery was limited. After the burial of the sailors, the guard of honor gave a triple salvo.
Mourning events in memory of the submariners who died in the Barents Sea were also held in the Pacific and Black Sea fleets. As a sign of mourning for the dead sailors, St. Andrew’s naval flags were lowered on all ships and in all parts of the Pacific Fleet. The ceremony took place at 18:00 local time (11:00 Moscow time).
In addition, a meeting was held in Vladivostok at the memorial complex "Military Glory of the Pacific Fleet" in the morning, in which the leaders of the Pacific Fleet, submarine veterans and military personnel of the Primorye flotilla brigade took part.
The press service of the Ministry of Defense reported that the two dead sailors - Hero of Russia Captain 2nd Rank Dmitry Solovyov and Captain 2nd Rank Sergey Danilchenko - in the past served on one of the diesel submarines assigned to this compound. The Pacificers honored the memory of the dead with a minute of silence and laid flowers at the Eternal Flame.
As a sign of mourning, St. Andrew’s flags on ships and submarines of the Black Sea Fleet were also lowered. On the outer roads of the Sevastopol bay, the sailors of the fleet launched a mourning wreath and flowers, and the vessels gave sound signals with ship triphons.
In addition to the ships located at the base sites, the flags of the fleet lowered the flags and gave sound signals, carrying out the assigned tasks in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The crews of the ships honored the memory of the dead with a minute of silence.
Earlier, a memorial event took place in Sevastopol itself, where city residents, veterans and military personnel of the fleet laid flowers to the stele of the city of Murmansk in the alley of the hero-cities.
The “immortal crew” of the Sevastopol Naval Engineering School will include the hero of Russia captain of the 1st rank who graduated in the 1990s, Andrei Voskresensky and the captain of the 1st rank Vladimir Abankin, who graduated from it. According to the head of the museum of the school, Nikolai Filimonov, the submariners will become the 61st and 62nd graduates of the college who died in the performance of military duty, the memory of which will be immortalized.
“I know Abankin, who graduated from our school number 27, then - school in 1991. Unfortunately, I do not know where Voskresensky studied, he graduated from college in 1994. After that, both came to serve in the Northern Fleet, after a serious selection came to the General Directorate of deep-sea research, "- said Filimonov TASS.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, expressed his sincere condolences in connection with the death of sailors in the Barents Sea during a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin. Earlier, many world leaders expressed their condolences to the families of the victims, including Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, head of the British Cabinet Teresa May, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Vladimir Norov, and Pope Francis.
The main cause of the tragedy was a fire in the battery compartment of the deep-water apparatus, from which the dead crew members immediately after the emergency evacuated a civilian industry representative and hit the door behind him, continuing to fight the fire. Submariners managed at the cost of their lives to prevent the spread of fire throughout the apparatus, to eliminate the source of fire and save their comrades. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stressed that the department will provide all necessary assistance and support to the families of the dead sailors.