Russian Navy commander-in-chief Vladimir Kuroyedov said at the weekend that the prosecutor-general’s office had discovered serious derelictions of duty both in day-to-day work and combat training at all levels of command in the Northern Fleet.

        Naval command had been studying the routine work and combat training in the fleet for almost 18 months. Decisions had now been made after a thorough study conducted by an independent group of specialists, he said. This investigation had allowed a more detailed assessment of the state of affairs in the navy, unconnected with the Kursk disaster.

        Officers at the top level of naval command had thoroughly investigated planning and preparations for the Northern Fleet’s manouevres next year, Kuroyedov added.

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