The retrial of two Russian navy personnel accused of causing a deadly accident on board a Nerpa nuclear submarine in 2008 opened at a court in the eastern city of Vladivostok on Tuesday.
The opening session of the retail mainly focused on a number of procedural issues, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. It was subsequently decided to hold the next hearing on December 20.
The two defendants -- Captain Dmitry Lavrentyev and Petty Officer Dmitry Grobov-- were present in the court room for the opening session. They are accused of causing "death by negligence." They have denied the charges, insisting that the accident was caused by faulty equipment.
Incidentally, both Lavrentyev and Grobov were acquitted by a military court in October 2011. But the Russian Supreme Court revered that decision on appeal in May 2012, and remanded the case for reconsideration.
The case against the defendants stems from the deadly accident on board a Nerpa nuclear submarine on November 2008 in which 20 of the 208 people on board the vessel were killed. The accident occurred after the submarine's fire extinguishing system was apparently activated without warning while tests were being conducted in the Sea of Japan.
The ill-fated Nerpa submarine's extinguishing system used freon gas, which extinguishes fires by displacing oxygen. The deadly accident was apparently caused after the released freon gas displaced breathable air inside the submarine.
Notably, all the 20 fatalities in the deadly accident are believed to have been caused by suffocation. Besides, 21 others on board the K-152 Nerpa submarine at the time of the accident were hospitalized for toxicity.
The Nerpa is one of Russia's latest nuclear-powered submarines, and it belongs to a class of attack submarines codenamed "Akula" by NATO. The "Akula" submarines are those armed with conventional torpedoes and cruise missiles.
It was transferred to Russian navy on December 28, 2009 after passing a series of tests. Though the work on the submarine began in 1993, it was only launched in 2008 because of frequent disruptions in funding its construction.
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