Russian Battleship 'May Blow Up'

In a salvo of contradictory statements likely to undermine trust in Russia's nuclear fleet, the navy chief said Tuesday that one of the nation's most advanced warships is so decrepit that it could explode any moment, then hurried to reassure that there's no danger at all.

Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov claimed that Russian news media misreported his initial statement, but others attributed the flap to infighting among navy brass and said it signaled a dangerous weakness of navy command.

Kuroyedov said initially that the nuclear-powered Peter the Great cruiser, the flagship of the Northern Fleet, had been badly maintained and could "explode any moment," adding that "it's especially dangerous because it has a nuclear reactor," according to the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies.

At the same time, Kuroyedov said he had ordered the captain to fix the ship in two weeks, casting doubt on the credibility of his warning of a looming disaster.

NTV television said that Kuroyedov made the statement in a smoking room on his way to a meeting chaired by President Vladimir Putin.

"Everything is all right on the ship where admirals walk, but in the areas where they don't, everything is in such condition that it may blow up at any moment," Kuroyedov was quoted as saying. "I mean, in particular, the maintenance of the nuclear reactor."

Three hours later, he took his words back, saying that media reports quoting him on the cruiser posing a danger "had nothing to do with reality."

"There is no threat whatsoever to the ship's nuclear safety," he said in a statement. "The ship's nuclear safety is fully guaranteed in line with existing norms."

Kuroyedov added that some flaws in maintaining the cruiser's living quarters would be fixed within three weeks, after which the ship would become fully combat-ready.

Peter the Great, with a displacement of about 30,000 tons, is one of the Russian navy's biggest and most modern ships, commissioned in 1998. Experts said that while there could be some problems with maintaining the expensive cruiser, its nuclear reactors were safe.

"Nuclear reactors have in-built safety system," Retired Vice Adm. Yevgeny Chernov, a Northern Fleet veteran, said in a telephone interview. "It's ridiculous to even talk about an explosion."

Retired Capt. Igor Kurdin, the head of St. Petersburg's Submariners Club, said that Kuroyedov's statement was an "exaggeration … people of such rank should be very careful."

The newspaper Kommersant said Tuesday that Kuroyedov has a personal conflict with retired Adm. Igor Kasatonov, uncle of the cruiser's captain, Rear Adm. Vladimir Kasatonov, who blamed him for the sinking of a decommissioned nuclear submarine in August.

Kuroyedov also faced harsh criticism for his role in the August 2000 explosion of the Kursk nuclear submarine, in which 118 sailors died. Many expected Putin to fire Kuroyedov after that.

In the latest blow to Russian military prestige, the navy failed to perform missile launches from nuclear submarines during maneuvers last month that were attended by Putin.

Kuroyedov claimed that the first of two scheduled launches had never been planned despite numerous earlier announcements to the contrary. On Tuesday, he said the second failed launch of a RSM-54 missile was due to its age.

"The missile was manufactured in 1987 and had a designated lifetime of 7 1/2 years," Kuroyedov said, adding that the navy now considers its RSM-54 missiles only 95 percent reliable.

The post-Soviet funding squeeze has badly hurt the navy, prompting it to mothball a large number of ships and keep most others docked for years because of shortages of fuel and spare parts.

"The ships are in terrible condition with pipes leaking and metal rusting," said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst. "And the navy is led by unprofessional commanders."

According to the nonprofit Center for Defense Information, the Russian Navy is the largest in the world, with 102 warships and 533 support ships. The U.S. and China have more warships, however: 200 and 125, respectively. The U.S. has 200 support ships and the Chinese 257.