BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Grief despair and anger, emotions running the gamut in Russia over the submarine saga playing out off the Norwegian coast. Our Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty, now, says that some Russians are demanding answers.</s>JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Five days after the nuclear-powered submarine Kursk plunged to the bottom, trapping 118 men, shock is giving way to anger, with some in Russia blaming President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin was on vacation in the south of Russia when the accident happened. He avoided public comment for the first three days. In a scathing article, a major Russian newspaper blared: The sailors on the Kursk fell silent yesterday, why has the president been silent? The Russian rescue effort so far has failed. Moscow initially rejected help from other countries, finally allowing Britain and Norway to send in a rescue sub and divers. But they won't be on the scene until Saturday. A Russian military analyst calls it Chernobyl-type behavior.</s>ALEXANDER PIKAYEV, MILITARY ANALYST: And initially for 24 hours, the Russian military kept silence, like the Soviet authorities kept silence within several days after the Chernobyl incident occurred.</s>DOUGHERTY (on camera): Here at Moscow's Victory Park, visitors relive the glory of the old Soviet navy. But the ongoing plight of the submarine Kursk has many people here troubled. (voice-over): Retired military man Nicolai Nifitski (ph) thinks the crew may already be dead.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The submarine sank on Saturday and it took rescuers a long time to get started. Also we shouldn't have refused international assistance for so long.</s>DOUGHERTY: Ulia Nilkrolska (ph) says Russia's tradition of secrecy is to blame. They probably aren't telling the truth, she says, and they never will. Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.
Russians Feel Outrage Over Government Reaction to Trapped Sub