St. Petersburg organization considers burying victims of July 1 fire next to memorial to ‘Kursk’ submarine disaster

At the request of Russian Navy’s commanders, the St. Petersburg Submarine Sailors’ Club has begun searching for a place to bury the 14 Northern Fleet servicemembers who died following a deep-sea fire in the Barents Sea.

The leader of the club, Igor Kurdin, told Interfax that the organization is considering a location in a St. Petersburg cemetery next to a memorial to the crew of the Kursk, a submarine whose 2000 sinking in the Barents Sea killed 118 and injected turmoil into the early years of the Putin regime.

Kurdin also said the families of those killed may prefer to bury their loved ones in the regions where they were born, though city official Alexander Rzhanenkov said the St. Petersburg government is preparing to provide an option to the families for the sailors to be buried together. All 14 of those killed were based in Peterhof, a suburb of St. Petersburg.