Russia Mourns Loss of 118 Sailors

Aug. 23 -- With flags lowered to half-staff and churches packed for vigils, Russia today mourned the 118 sailors who died on the doomed nuclear submarine, the Kursk.

President Vladimir Putin, who declared it a day of mourning,returned to Moscow — after facing the wrath of sailors’ familiesat a marathon overnight meeting in the northern naval base ofVidyayevo, where the Kursk began its final mission.

President Vladimir Putin asked television stations to refrainfrom running entertainment shows, but regular programming continuedduring the morning, including soap operas.

Some stations changed their schedules to air classical music or war films, and others honored the dead by observing a minute’s silence or showing the names of the crew with pictures of the Kursk.

Russia’s most popular Web site, anekdot.ru, where jokes areusually posted, shut for the day and presented a black screen.

Putin had been expected to fly to the area of the Barents Sea where the Kursk sank on August 12, after still-unexplained blasts, to lay a wreath on the sea to honor the dead.

But ORT television showed wives of dead sailors late on Tuesday urging Putin not to do this.

They said such events should be postponed until the bodies were recovered, perhaps fearing any ceremony could suggest officials had given up hope even of recovering the bodies. Putin apparently agreed and mourning ceremonies at Vidyayevo, including a planned church service, were canceled.

Meets With Victims’ Relatives

Putin met relatives of the dead sailors in Murmansk on Tuesday, listening to their complaints about the botched Russian rescue operation and the generally dismal conditions in the Russian Navy.

“The grief is immeasurable, there are not enough words ofcomfort. My heart hurts, but yours hurt even more,” Putin toldthem, the Interfax news agency reported.

Criticized for what many saw as a casual approach to thedisaster and a failure to prod generals into action during theweek of uncertainty over whether the trapped submarine crew werestill alive, Putin struggled at times to make himself heard.