The source said that the cruiser's departure from the White Sea Naval Base took place on August 1
MOSCOW, August 6. /tass/. The heavy nuclear-powered strategic missile cruiser Dmitry Donskoy of project 941 (code "Shark"), contrary to some media reports about its withdrawal from the Russian Navy (Navy), is currently solving problems during the sea. This was reported to TASS by the head of the All-Russian Fleet Support Movement (DPF) Vladimir Maltsev.
"Despite the statements of a number of media outlets about the withdrawal of the Dmitry Donskoy submarine from the Navy, it is currently successfully solving combat training tasks during the next sea launch," he said.
Also, a TASS source in the shipbuilding industry confirmed this information, specifying that this exit from the White Sea Naval Base took place on August 1.
On July 26, the submarine returned to the base from the White Sea, where it performed various combat training tasks for about a month.
Earlier, Maltsev told TASS that Dmitry Donskoy will solve combat training tasks at least until December 1, 2022, that is, until the end of the "military" academic year. According to him, a decision on his future fate may be made at the end of 2022. According to one of the options, after December 1, a technical crew will remain on the boat. We are not talking about the withdrawal of the Navy from combat service yet, he noted.
On July 20, several TASS sources in the shipbuilding industry and law enforcement agencies in the north of Russia, commenting on a number of media reports about the withdrawal of the ship from the Russian Navy, refuted them. One of them noted that a decision on the future fate of the ship can be made no earlier than December 2022, when specialists will have to assess the technical condition of the ship and the stock of nuclear fuel. At the same time, he did not rule out that as a result, the ship could extend its service life for several more years.
The nuclear-powered vessel Dmitry Donskoy was launched on September 29, 1980, joined the Navy on December 29, 1981. Initially, the main weapon of the cruiser was intercontinental ballistic missiles of the D-19 complex. In 2002, the ship underwent modernization under the 941UM project, after which it was involved in testing the Bulava missile system. In the summer of 2017, the cruiser made an inter-fleet crossing to the Baltic, where it took part in the Main Naval Parade.
In total, six units of Project 941 were built for the Navy. All the ships were based in the Northern Fleet in the Western Face (Nerpichya Bay). To date, three of them have been disposed of with US funding. Two - Arkhangelsk and Severstal - have been withdrawn from the fleet and are awaiting disposal.
For its size, "Dmitry Donskoy" was listed in the Guinness Book of Records (1988). The ship is 172 m long, 23 m wide. The height of the nuclear-powered vessel is comparable to a nine-story house.
