Moscow: Russia will help Ukraine to
ensure the technical maintenance of the Zaporozhye submarine,
the only one Ukraine has, a top Russian Navy official has
said.
"We are stepping up our work. We received an application
of our Ukrainian partners on the technical maintenance of the
submarine, which they repaired and which is going to be put to
use," Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev, first deputy chief of the
staff of the Russian Navy, said Saturday.
Relations between the Russian and Ukrainian Navies "are
becoming reasonable and humane," he said.
The Zaporozhye diesel electric submarine is the only
submarine possessed by the Ukrainian Navy.
It was built in 1972 under Project No. 641 (Foxtrot,
under the NATO classification). Its surface speed is 16.4
knots, and the submerged speed is 16 knots. The length of the
hull is 91 metres.
Previously the submarine was part of the USSR Northern
Fleet, and its tactical number was B-435.
In 1990 the submarine was turned over to the Black Sea
Fleet. It was adopted by the Ukrainian Navy in 1997.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, March 21, 2010, 16:56