Russia Armed Forces

Up a shabby flight of stairs in a rundown building here is a small, chaotic office that has become the nerve center for relatives and supporters of crewmen trapped in the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk. It's not the Russian navy's rescue center, but a private club. It's also the home of true believers, many of whom have become disillusioned this week with the military they once served. The veterans at the St.

If by some miracle the sailors aboard the disabled Russian submarine Kursk can be rescued, they may well thank a young phone company and its Beverly Hills executives--including one of the wealthiest men in Southern California. The LR5, the manned rescue mini-submarine now being rushed to the Barents Sea from its base in Britain, is operated by Global Crossing Ltd., an ambitious and unprofitable 3-year-old telecommunications company.

A rescue crew trying to dock with the crippled Russian nuclear submarine Kursk discovered Friday that the second of the vessel's two escape hatches is damaged, further lowering hopes that either Russian or Western teams will be able to rescue the 118 seamen trapped inside. "The chances of saving them are extremely low," said President Vladimir V. Putin, who cut short his vacation nearly a week after the accident to return to Moscow. "But at least some chance remains."

Hopes grew dimmer and efforts to rescue 118 sailors trapped aboard a sunken Russian nuclear submarine grew more desperate Thursday amid fears that its supply of oxygen had decreased to critical levels. "The situation is near-catastrophic," Prime Minister Mikhail M. Kasyanov told the nation grimly as he presided over a Cabinet meeting. "As before, we still have hope. I think we must continue to believe that there is still a chance to save the people."

Russia swallowed its national pride Wednesday and agreed to allow a British underwater rescue craft to join the massive operation to save sailors trapped in a crippled nuclear submarine beneath ever-stormier Arctic seas. Knocking sounds and other signs of life ceased coming from the submarine Kursk on Wednesday for the first time since the Russian vessel sank last weekend, officials said.

The 118 Russians trapped in the crippled nuclear submarine beneath the surface of the Barents Sea face a host of increasing physical perils as time passes, according to medical experts. Diminishing oxygen, accumulating carbon dioxide and extreme cold all can muddle their thinking, mar their judgment and eventually cause their bodies to simply shut down.

Rescuers attempted a desperate and tricky operation late Tuesday and early today to save the crew of a stricken Russian nuclear submarine trapped at the bottom of the Barents Sea, but poor weather and swirling currents frustrated their efforts. With time and oxygen running out for the 116-member crew, the operation was complicated by near-zero visibility in the inky seas.

Dmitri Starosyeltsev had to overcome some tough competition to win a position on the nuclear submarine Kursk after he was drafted in November. The contest was fierce: Two of every three candidates were rejected. But Starosyeltsev, who graduated with good marks from the Railway College in the city of Kursk, won out. One of the novices in the 116-member crew, he was aboard the sub when it sank over the weekend in the Barents Sea. Efforts to rescue the crew continued early today.

One of Russia's newest nuclear submarines, with more than 100 crew members aboard, lay crippled Monday on the seabed above the Arctic Circle after a collision or explosion, and Russia's top naval official grimly acknowledged that a rescue would be difficult.

The danger posed by two nuclear reactors aboard a crippled Russian submarine appears to be slight, at least for the time being, several U.S. nuclear analysts said Monday. As of late Monday, no elevated levels of radioactivity in the air or water had been detected by a Norwegian intelligence vessel stationed in the area near where the Kursk, one of the largest undersea craft in Russia's submarine fleet, plunged hundreds of feet to the sea floor.