Three months into Vladimir Putin’s new presidency, a blast in the Barents Sea ripped open and sank Russia ’s prized nuclear submarine Kursk - in an explosion so powerful that its impact was felt in Alaska. It was August 12, 2000 and, as the deadliest naval incident of post-Soviet Russia unfurled - resulting in the death of all 118 crew - Putin refused to cut short his holiday in Sochi to deal with the crisis. In the eyes of millions - including the world ’s media - he had failed in his first