Editor’s Pitch

If you’ve ever had a sneaking suspicion that nasty things happen in the name of big business, then this is a chilling story to confirm that nagging feeling in the back of your imagination. Like many world events that appear to be covered with media scrutiny, the death of 118 men during a naval exercise just doesn’t quite add up. What is clear is the pain that the families of the submarine’s crew have lived through and the process by which Putin began to exert his vice-like grip on a fracturing empire. Unsettling and completely believable.



In August 2000, the pride of the Russian navy and its 118 crew lay at the bottom of the Barents Sea. The unthinkable had happened. The Kursk, the world’s most technologically advanced nuclear submarine and pride of the Russian Fleet had sunk.

The Kremlin’s explanation: It was caused by the accidental explosion of an old fashioned torpedo. This version of events was readily accepted by the Russian and international press. However, the real causes of the tragedy have never been exposed. Until now…..

After two years of investigation, The Kursk: A Submarine in Troubled Waters unveils the contradictions, lies and secrets created by the authorities at the time, hiding the true origins of the disaster.


The film exposes a truly disturbing story that includes:

* A military exercise to sell weapons to the Chinese that could
change the balance of naval power in the Pacific

* A confrontation between the Kursk and two American submarines.

* The hostile firing of a MK40 torpedo resulting in the sinking

* A purposefully delayed rescue effort to hide the confrontation

* Billions of dollars in debt relief to Russia from the US following the disaster


This revelatory documentary asks if the crew of the Kursk were sacrificed in a game of geo-political brinkmanship, and reveals the high-stake strategies now being played out between Russia, the USA and China in a post Cold War world.

The film also examines the political, military, and economic policies developed by Vladimir Putin, which are intimately linked with the event and his tightening control of media and government in Russia.

The Kursk: A Submarine in Troubled Waters is constructed like a counter espionage documentary. It underlines the gap between a nation torn apart by a human tragedy and a government willing to stop at nothing to reach its global aims.



Press Reviews

There are fascinating viewpoints from various experts and compelling footage of the Kursk, the attempted rescue and the hysterical aftermath.
Tony David

A former British military official has backed a sensational claim that the Russian nuclear submarine, the Kursk, was torpedoed by US forces in August 2000. An official inquest concluded that the disaster – in which all 118 crew drowned in the Barents Sea, 135km off the Russian coast – was caused by an accidental explosion of an onboard torpedo. But Maurice Stradling, a former torpedo engineer and a key figure in the original investigation, believes a new French documentary, The Kursk: A Submarine in Troubled Waters should change world opinion on the sinking.
"On the balance of probabilities, the Kursk was sunk by an American MK-48 torpedo," said Mr Stradling, formerly a senior member of the British Defence Ministry.
Daniel Stacey

Further information on The Kursk

Wikipedia has general information on The Kursk, the context in which it was built and its symbolic meaning to the Russians, as well as the official version of events. The BBC and CNN have reports that were written at the time and What Really Happened delves deeper looking at the evidence major news outlets have overlooked coming to the same conclusions as the film makers.