A Russian Navy officer was punished following drunken outbursts on a K-18 Karelia (NATO reporting name: Delta IV) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine while his crew was in quarantine due to the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
The details of the incident were disclosed in court decisions published by the state automated system “Pravosudiye”, multiple news outlets reported.
From the materials, it follows that on July 14, 2020, Political officer and his subordinate, Midshipman, quarreled among themselves. The reason was that the midshipman’s pregnant wife complained to him that she could not solve the housing issue: the administration of the closed city of Aleksandrovsk (Murmansk region) did not want to renew her social rental agreement in the absence of her husband, who was quarantined with the crew on the submarine.
The midshipman turned to the officer for help, whom he found in the medical part, barely able to stand. But the political officer, swearing obscenely at the midshipman and his wife, sent both of them to solve their problems on the speakerphone. The incident was reported to the commander of the submarine, Captain 1st Rank Anton Maslennikov. He went to the cabin to the officer, who was “in frustrated feelings”, and he had clear signs of alcohol intoxication: redness of the skin and eyes, as well as the smell of alcohol from the mouth. The zampolit confessed to him that he drank alcohol, had a fight with the midshipman, and then continued to drink.
Russian Navy nuclear submarine officer received incomplete official compliance for drinking alcohol and insulting a subordinate and his pregnant wife.
The K-18 Karelia is one of the new Delta-IV class nuclear submarines that carry 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles. It was built in Severodvinsk by Sevmash shipbuilding company and was commissioned in 1989.
In addition, earlier in December 2020, Russian paratroopers accidentally fired on a shopping mall in Pskov.