Captain Sergei Pavlov, an aide to the commander of Russia’s navy, praised the heroism of the men, who died as they battled to stop the fire from spreading in the submersible.
"With their lives, they saved the lives of their colleagues, saved the vessel and prevented a planetary catastrophe," he said at the funeral Sunday attended by the navy chief according to the Fontanka news service.
Kremlin front man Dmitry Peskov said he wasn’t aware of the official’s comments but said there was no indication the incident posed a broader threat. "As for the reactor, there are no problems with that," he said on a conference call.
Russia broke three days of secrecy July 4 and confirmed that the stricken underwater research vessel was nuclear-powered. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...in a meeting shown on state TV that the nuclear reactor on board the vessel had been completely sealed off.