- (AFP) - Russia's navy chief said that he has ordered
the nuclear battle cruiser Peter the Great rushed back to port, warning
that its condition was so deplorable that "it could explode at any
moment."
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- Vladimir Kuroyedov said he had ordered the ship to be
docked for two weeks, "during which the ship's commander... must remove
all deficiencies in the ship's upkeep."
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- "The ship is in such a state that it could explode
at any moment," the Interfax news agency quoted Kuroyedov as saying.
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- Kuroyedov said he ordered the measure after a tour of
the ship on Wednesday last week during naval exercises in the Barents Sea.
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- "The ship's condition is fine in those places where
admirals walk, but where they don't go everything is in such a state that
it could explode at any moment. This includes the upkeep of the nuclear
reactor," Kuroyedov said.
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- "Such attitudes of commanders toward their ships
leads to a degradation of the fleet," he said.
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- Kuroyedov did not specify to which port the cruiser was
taken, but it is normally based near the northern port of Murmansk.
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- On Monday, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted an unnamed
navy source as saying that Kuroyedov had deemed Peter the Great's "crew's
performance below standard" after observing the latest maneuvers.
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