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Probe into Severodvinsk emergency cannot be public — Kremlin

The testing site was home to trials of new weapon systems, the presidential press secretary informed
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. The probe into last August’s incident at a test site near Severodvinsk cannot but be classified, because tests of new weapon systems were involved, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Friday.

"Tests of new weapon systems were involved. For this reason it is only natural that the investigation being carried out in this connection cannot be public," Peskov said, adding that all current probes were "strictly classified."

The August 8 incident occurred at a military test site near Severodvinsk. Russia’s Rosatom corporation later reported that a fire and explosion that followed during a missile test on a sea platform killed five of its employees and injured three others, who were taken to hospital. On November 21, President Vladimir Putin met with the families of those who died in the incident and handed to the widows the Order of Courage posthumously awarded to their husbands.

Assistance for flood victims in Irkutsk Region

Russian President Vladimir Putin is being briefed about the situation with the provision of assistance to flood victims in the Irkutsk Region, with "not everything going smoothly" there despite the great work done, the Kremlin spokesman informed.

"Of course, the President is being briefed, you know that it is under his personal control. It’s known that not everything is going smoothly there: a lot of work has been done, but not everything is fine," Peskov commented.

He noted that this work is also under control of Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko and the regional authorities.