MOSCOW, AUG 22: In A lengthy, emotion-surcharged interview, aired on the semi-government television ORT, Russian Defence Minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev has for the first time admitted that the sailors on the stricken Kursk nuke submarine kept on frantically knocking from inside, until August 14 after the sub sank on August 12.``We received a short, small reply - `SOS, Water'. They were not heard after the 14th,'' Marshal Sergeyev said, in an emotion-choked voice. ``You know,'' he told the ORT's interviewer, ``there was knocking both on the 13th and the 14th. Even a special instrument was created on which we received a short reply - SOS, Water.''``This was the assessment of the state of sailors who were alive and were in the compartment,'' Marshal Sergeyev said and added, ``Evidently the water came in or seeped in.''He dismissed accusations in the press that the Navy did not seek foreign assistance in time to save the crew-members. ``It's not to be ruled out that some kind of mistakes were made, but I think, at this time - perhaps in the heat of the moment - but no fundamental mistakes were made,'' asserted Marshal Sergeyev.His remarks came as President Vladimir Putin declared on Wednesday a day of national mourning for the 118 sailors who died aboard the Kursk. In a decree issued today, Putin expressed his grief over the loss of the sailors and offered condolences to their families and relatives.``I express my grief for the dead and condolences to their families and relatives,'' Putin said.All the television and radio stations have been asked to drop entertainment shows from their programmes and the Russian flag will be flown at half-mast throughout Russia tomorrow.Later today, Putin flew to Severomorsk, the headquarters of the Northern Fleet, to personally express condolences to the relatives of the dead submariners.
