How it was 06.06.1998 (1998)

The sinking of the passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov on August 31, 1986. It was the largest disaster in the history of Russian civilian shipping: Admiral Nakhimov collided with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev in Tsemes Bay.

There were 1,234 people on board, 423 died, and the ship sank in a matter of minutes.

The investigation into the tragedy lasted six months.

The Supreme Court sentenced the captains of both ships to 15 years in prison, but they were amnestied a few years later.

The captain of the bulk carrier, Viktor Tkachenko, lives in Israel, and other crew members refused to appear in the program; Admiral Nakhimov captain Vadim Markov also refuses to talk to the press.

The surviving witnesses of the tragedy, together with the presenter, reconstruct the course of events minute by minute, talk about the accident and the rescue operation.

The program features passengers Marina Yakovleva and Igor Telesa, the liner's linen mistress Zinaida Marchuk, bartender Evgeny Korotkiy, midshipman of the border boat "PSK-131" Alexander Gusev.

A fragment of a recorded interview: navigator Nikolay Nikitin.

The program was prepared using excerpts from the newsreel "News of the Day" (1962, the return of the "Admiral Nakhimov" from Havana, meeting in the port of Odessa), the film "I Loved You More Than Life" (1985, directed by Ismailov R.R.), newsreel footage of the sunken ship, a fragment of the "Vremya" program from September 5, 1986 with a story about the border guards who took part in rescuing people, and footage of the meeting of the passengers of the "Admiral Nakhimov" on August 31, 1991.