Everyone is talking...

...about the fate of the submersible "Priz" and the seven seamen inside. Earlier today I was listening to Echo of Moscow Radio, and they have blanket coverage on the air and on their website (in Russian). To be honest, my first impression was that they were flogging this story because it's August, which means (1) there must be catastrophes in Russia in order to live up to everyone's expectations, and (2) many of the usual newsmakers are on holiday, and the journalists need something to cover. But perhaps that was colored too cynical by the fact that I got up a bit too early this morning to catch my flight back to Moscow, and by the cynicism-inducing impact of a rapid journey from relaxing Chisinau to dog-eat-dog Moscow.

Anyway, Andy at Siberian Light has coverage of the Priz situation, and Veronica at Neeka's Backlog has mentioned it as well - presumably other Russo-centric blogs are also on the case.

RIAN has coverage in English. It looks like the submariners may have only 24 hours to live, unfortunately; I've already heard comments on the radio about how this month is the 5th anniversary of the Kursk submarine disaster; let's hope we don't have a repeat showing.

The only thing I have to add to the other English-language coverage I've seen is the revelation, which I heard first on Echo (though they referred to this Russian-language RIAN wire item) that the stricken mini-sub was scheduled to undergo "modernization" in March 2006. Not sure if this release is someone's advance attempt at deflecting blame or an attempt to show that this situation is not another result of the abject decay of Russian military hardware, since plans were in place for some work on the vessel. Somewhat interestingly, the item on the English-language RIAN site does not talk about the planned "modernization," but has a brief item stating simply the following:

Stricken submersible certified until March 2006. 17:13.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - The deep-sea submersible trapped off the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East was certified for operation until March 2006, a source in the Russian Pacific Fleet said Friday.

"A commission of naval officers and the developers of the AS-28 bathyscaphe [submersible] from the Lazurit design bureau tested the submersible in March 2005 and concluded it was fit for operation without any restrictions until March 2006," the source said.

To be honest, I hope that this potential catastrophe is not another symptom of Russian military decay. When I encounter people who defend Russian power projections such as the military presence in Transnistria, I like to remind them that the Russian military needs to focus less attention abroad and more attention on its starving and hazed-to-death conscripts and its rusting hardware, but it would be a shame if more people had to die to drive this reminder home. Plus, Russian military decrepitude is flat-out scary if you think about it, given that they persist in running training exercises like this one:

Russian strategic bomber carries out training launch of cruise missile. 17:06.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian Tu-160 heavy strategic bomber (NATO reporting name Blackjack) launched a cruise missile Friday hitting a target at one of the country's northern shooting ranges, an Air Force spokesman said.

"Two Tu-160 aircraft took off Friday morning from the Engels airport in the Saratov region (the Volga region) for a scheduled flight," Alexander Drobyshevsky said. "During the flight one of the planes successfully launched a cruise missile, which hit the target at a northern shooting range near Vorkuta."

He added that the eight-hour flights, which covered thousands of miles, had been carried out in accordance with the training schedule. He also said the crews had included young members. "Missions like this are regularly conducted, which lets long range pilots improve their skills," the official said.

Yes, folks, we get the point - brother Bear still has "strategic weapons" in the arsenal and is making sure to keep the long-range pilots sharp just in case they need to fly over the top of the world towards North America anytime soon. I just hope those cruise missiles they're using for training are dummies, or at least that they're certified beyond March 2006. I have nothing against the Russian military training its troops, but I do wish we Westerners could get to the state which so many Russian analysts seem to think we fear - respecting a strong Russia - rather than continuing to have to dread the potential manifestations of the country's weakness.

PS: I promise, no more RIA Novosti items today - sorry to go crazy with that, as I know it's not the most reliable website in terms of the quality of information provided. But it is an important guide to what official Moscow wants the world to hear about.