Kursk Submarine Disaster — State Refuses Foreign Rescue Help for Days

The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000 after an internal torpedo explosion, killing all 118 crew. At least 23 sailors survived the initial sinking in a rear compartment; Russian officials initially denied there were survivors, then refused offers of British and Norwegian rescue equipment for several days out of secrecy concerns, before finally accepting help — by which point the surviving sailors had died. Putin remained on holiday for several days after the sinking before returning to address the crisis publicly, drawing sharp domestic criticism.