Russian Sailor Slain After Killing 8 on Sub

Russian troops stormed a nuclear-powered submarine early today and killed an armed conscript who had commandeered it after killing eight of his fellow crew members, Russian news agencies said.

The conscript, identified as 19-year-old Alexander Kuzminykh, was shot dead in the torpedo room where he had barricaded himself.

“There was no possibility to save Alexander Kuzminykh’s life,” Interfax news agency quoted a counterintelligence official as saying.

The incident at the Skalisty naval base near the Arctic port of Murmansk was the latest in a long series of killings within Russia’s military.

Other shootings have been provoked by conscripts’ frustration at poor conditions or bullying.

Reports said the military operation was ordered after all attempts to negotiate an end to the siege had been exhausted.

Kuzminykh had killed a sentry guarding the vessel early Friday, seized his rifle and went below, where he killed five more men. Two servicemen were taken hostage and later killed, according to Russian news reports.

The Defense Ministry said there were no nuclear weapons aboard the 360-foot submarine, whose nuclear reactor would not normally be in operation when the vessel was docked.