A U.S. intelligence assessment found that the mysterious explosion off of Russia’s northern coast occurred during a recovery mission to salvage a nuclear-powered missile from the ocean floor, according to people with direct knowledge of the report.
The event itself was disclosed pretty quickly after a nuclear power plant in Sweden picked up the radiation drifting over from the Ukraine, but the details took years to surface. I suspect it will be the same again.
The US embassy has confirmed the incident, the Interfax news service reported, but said the three diplomats had filed the proper paperwork to travel in the area.
“Only, they said their intention was to visit Arkhangelsk and they ended up en route to Severodvinsk,” the [Russian foreign] ministry said.
“They obviously got lost. We are ready to give the US embassy a map of Russia,” the ministry added.