Flags are at half-mast across Russia

Mr Putin returned to Moscow after relatives at the Northern Fleet's base in Vidyayevo told him they could not begin to mourn until they had seen their loved ones' bodies with their own eyes.

Correspondents say Vidyayevo is the only place in Russia where flags are not standing at half mast and candles are not being lit in memory of the crew.

I'd say that a lifting the submarine would be in summer next year at the earliest

Julian Thomson, Stolt Offshore spokesman

For the past week, the garrison town has been home to the hundreds of relatives, some of whom hold out hope that their husbands, fathers and brothers may still be alive.

On Thursday, some relatives are due to sail to the spot where the submarine sank on 12 August and spend a few moments in private reflection.

Compensation

Across Russia flags have been lowered on all government buildings, and radio and television stations have replaced entertainment programmes with more sombre material.

Relatives are refusing to recognise the day of mourning

The government has announced that the families of the dead will receive an average compensation of $7,000 - equivalent to more than 10 years' wages.

While the official line was that Mr Putin left because there was to be no ceremony, correspondents say he was shocked by the hostile reception he received from grieving families.

"The grief is immeasurable, there are not enough words of comfort," Mr Putin told them

Mr Putin met relatives of the crew

"My heart hurts, but yours hurt even more."

The Kursk rescue operation finally came to an end on Monday after a team of Norgegian and British divers forced open the submarine's rear escape hatch and found that the whole vessel was flooded.

Recovery operation

Experts have warned that the recovery of the bodies of the crew could take until 2001.

"Our feasibility study of raising the wreck or of recovering the bodies will take months," said Julian Thomson, spokesman for Stolt Offshore, the Norwegian company whose divers opened the wreck.

"In practical terms, I'd say that a lifting would be in summer next year at the earliest."

Kursk timeline

12 Aug: Sinks during Barents Sea exercises 14 Aug: Russian navy inspects sub 15 Aug: Attempts to attach rescue capsule fail 16 Aug: Russians report no signs of life. Accept help from the West 17 Aug: British and Norwegian craft readied for rescue attempt 19 Aug: British and Norwegian teams arrive at scene 20 Aug: Norwegian and British divers examine Kursk 21 Aug: Divers enter flooded sub 22 Aug: President Putin arrives in Murmansk 23 Aug: National day of mourning - Mr Putin returns to Moscow

He added that it would probably be easier to raise the entire wreck than retrieve corpses.

The joint Russian-Norwegian environmental group, Bellona, which monitors nuclear problems in the region, said on Wednesday there were no signs of radiation leaking from the sunken submarine.

The cause of the disaster is still unclear.

Russian officials say they believe the submarine may have collided with a Western submarine that was in the Barents Sea to monitor a large naval exercise in which the Kursk was taking part.

Western experts say the damage to the submarine appears to have been caused by a catastrophic explosion in the torpedo bay.