Mayor of Yekaterinburg met with former commander of same-named sub

04.02.2010
On Feb 3 Arkady Chernetsky, mayor of Yekaterinburg city met with Capt 1 rank Andrei Pavlovsky, submarine division deputy commander who had been commander of SSBN Yekaterinburg since 2001 till 2004.

According to the city administration press service, in 1999 Navy Commander-in-Chief issued an order to reward SSBN K-84 with honorable name of Yekaterinburg. Since that time administration of Ural capital city patronizes the strategic sub under agreement tied with Northern Fleet's command. In 2001 a charitable fund was established in Yekaterinburg and still actively works. This fund renders assistance to the sub's crew and regularly sends humanitarian aid to Gadzhievo naval base.

Visits of the Barents Sea's severe coasts by representatives of the city administration, directors of various companies and charitable fund's activists have become a good tradition. The mayor Arkady Chernetsky himself has visited the submarine two times. For example, in April 2006 when it was 100th anniversary of Russian submarine fleet, he personally congratulated the crew of SSBN Yekaterinburg. By that day the crew barracks in Gadzhievo were thoroughly repaired thanks to efforts and financial support of patronage city. And now the crew of K-84 rests and lives in comfortable conditions after returning to base from combat watches.

Every time Yekaterinburg patrons come to meet with sponsored crew they bring heap of needed and useful gifts. The oldest patronage organization of SSBN Yekaterinburg is CJSC Tagansky Ryad which renders assistance to submariners through whole 11-year period. "We bring workwear and winter jackets, consumer electronics, digital equipment. Wives and kids of submariners regularly leave Arctic Ocean coast and vacate at the continent. Schoolchildren spend their winter holidays in Yekaterinburg; in summer, submariners' families take rest on the Black Sea coast at the expense of Yekaterinburg charitable fund. Each family having a newborn baby is subsidized with nonrecurrent monetary grant", tells Viktor Testov, director of CJSC Tagansky Ryad.

At today's meeting Andrei Pavlovsky on behalf of submariners extended thanks to Arkady Chernetsky and Yekaterinburg patrons for virtued support. As he said, cooperation between SSBN Yekaterinburg and administration of Ural capital city, as well as interaction between Gadzhievo and Yekaterinburg is unique and the most efficient. "We work with many Russian cities but with Yekaterinburg we have the closest relationship", underlined Andrei Pavlovsky.

The forthcoming new project in the area of cooperation will be concert of the best ensembles from Yekaterinburg and Gadzhievo. This idea emerged at today's meeting and will be provisionally realized during the Russian Navy Day. According to Northern Fleet's command, currently SSBN Yekaterinburg is one of the best Russian submarines not only in terms of technical innovations but qualification and crew solidarity as well. The submarine successfully takes part in Northern Fleet's exercises and in international naval maneuvers. In 2005 during bilateral tactical training exercise under command of Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin the sub effectively launched ballistic missile against Kura Range at Kamchatka. In August 2006 she successfully fired from North Pole and planted the St. Andrew's flag on the top of the world. Last year SSBN Yekaterinburg carried out combat training launches of RSM-54 ballistic missiles.

Source: JustMedia, photo: SSBN Yekaterinburg at shipyard in Severodvinsk (ru.wikipedia.org)