Fragment of corvette Cheonan was brought to Russia

10.06.2010 Russian experts who had investigated circumstances of Cheonan's shipwreck brought fragments of the corvette to Russia, reported RIA Novosti citing Viktor Ozerov, the chairman of defense committee at the Federation Council.

Referring to defense minister Anatoly Serdiukov, Ozerov said that the experts would need about a month to complete inquiry, make conclusions, and prepare a report of the shipwreck causes.

It was reported on June 7 that Russian experts had finished the investigation. Representative of S Korean defense ministry refused to tell which conclusions had they reached, having referred to the request of Russian party.

Russian experts departed for Seoul on May 31; it was offered by President Medvedev to render assistance to South Korea in finding of the incident cause.

Members of international commission from the US, Australia, UK, and Sweden had came to Seoul before. Those experts confirmed the version that Cheonan had been torpedoed by N Korean submarine. DPRK had renounced this accusations.

Corvette Cheonan sank in the Yellow Sea late March; 46 sailors died, 58 managed to survive. Seoul says it has an evidence of N Korea's involvement. Relations between the Korean countries became strained after the shipwreck. S Korea requested UN Security Council to apply sanctions against Pyongyang; North Korea declared withdrawal from the nonaggression pact.