The Kursk - one of the Russian navy's most advanced submarines - sank Aug. 12 after two mysterious explosions ripped through it. The sinking prompted an international rescue operation that ultimately proved fruitless.<BR>When it became clear that no one had survived, Russian officials said they believed all hands had died within the first two minutes of the disaster.<BR>Kolesnikov's note revives the scenario that manh had originally feared: if not for the confused response, some of the men could have been saved.<BR>"Now it is clear that after the explosion there wre people alive and they were waiting for help," a commentator for NTV television said.<BR>Officials have not released the full text of the note, saying that it contains personal messages that will be passed on to Kolesnikov's family. The parts of the letter made public do not elaborate on what caused the submarine to sink.<BR>But what was released will once again raise questions as to why the Russian navy did not establish contact immediately with the men who made it into the ninth compartment. After issuing initial reports that it was in contact with the crew, the navy later declared no contact had been made.<BR>The Russian authorities came under a torrent of criticism from bereaved relatives and the news media for their slow response, and for initially balking at accepting foreign offers of aid, even when it became clear that the Russian navy lacked the equipment to reach the crew.<BR>Kolesnikov's note makes it clear that those who survived the accident were left without power, as he was writing it in the dark. The message ends on a stark note: "I am writing blindly."<BR>What is less obvious is how long the 23 sailors survived in the ninth compartment, or how they eventually died. Initial reports said the time 13:15 was written on the note, but no day or date was indicated. But later, Vice-Admiral Mikhail Motsak said the note was written between 1:34p.m. and 3:15 p.m. local time on Aug. 12, the day of the disaster. Foreign and Russian ships in the area registered two powerful explosions around 11:30 a.m.<BR>Officials said it would have been matter of hours, not days, after the note was written before hypothermia, drowning or pressue killed the men.<BR>The note "also said that two or three people might try to escape the submarine through the emergency escape hatch located in the ninth compartment," Motsak said. He added that this attempt was probably thwarted by water that had gradually flooded the ninth compartment of the sub.<BR>In the days after the sinking, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov suggested the crew was alive and waiting for rescuers, citing tapping noises that officials said were distress calls from survivors. A week later, he said the crew had died immediately and that the sounds were the dead ship settling on the ocean floor. Now it appears they may have been distress calls.<BR>Russian and Norweigian divers recovered the first bodies after five days of painstaking work to cut holes in the top of the submarine, which lies 110 metres below the surface.<BR>Despite the difficulties the divers face, President Vladimir Putin has promised to recover the bodies and reveal the reasons for the accident. "We will do all we can," he said yesterday.<BR>Between sobs in a brief television interview, Kolesnikov's widow, Olga, said: "I had a feeling that my husband did not die right away. I want to see him again. I want to read his letter."<BR>She said her husband seemed to sense something would go wrong before leaving on the mission. She cited a poem he wrote for her before his final voyage:<P>When the hour comes to die<BR>Although I chase those thoughts away<BR>I want to read one thought to you<BR>My dear, I love you.