MOSCOW. May 6 (Interfax-AVN) - Specialists that will take part in the lifting of the first compartment of the Kursk submarine from the Barents Sea bottom are mostly interested in getting hold of an acoustic antenna and a part of torpedo tube, a high-ranking official of the Russian Navy Staff told Interfax- Military News Agency on Monday.
"We will lift those two of the seven large objects of the submarine's first compartment that are on the bottom," the official said.
The recovery expedition is supposed to leave Severomorsk on May 15. "The lifting operation itself will start on May 20," the official stressed.
He specified that the operation would involve only Russian forces. "Grips will be dropped from a special vessel. Divers will not be involved in the work," the official said.
According to him, the remaining five objects of the first compartment will be blasted.
The Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000, killing all the 118 crewmembers. Circumstances of the disaster are still unclear.