Russia: August 7, 2005

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  An unmanned British minisub arrived by air, and after six hours of work, cut free a small Russian rescue sub, allowing it, and its crew of six, to come to the surface. The Russian sub had gotten snagged in abandoned fishing nets three days earlier. The US also flew out two minisubs, but the British got there first, and were aided by some American transport troops who had already arrived. The Russians thanked the British, and other nations who had rushed assistance to the scene (off the Pacific coast in the Russian Far East.) Russia said it  would buy two of the minisubs that Britain used. These minisubs are used for all sorts of underwater work and cost about a million dollars each.  The Russian navy was under tremendous pressure to ask for foreign assistance, after they did not do so five years ago when the submarine Kursk went down. Meanwhile, the navy is investigating the current accident for things that could have been avoided.