A Russian nuclear-powered submarine sank in the Barents Sea on Saturday morning as it was being towed to a scrapyard, killing at least two of the 10-member crew, the Defense Ministry said.

The K-159 submarine's nuclear reactor was shut down at the time the vessel sank at about 4 a.m. about 3 1/2 miles northwest of Kildin Island, the Defense Ministry said. No weapons were aboard the sub, the ministry said.

One sailor was rescued, the bodies of two dead crew members were found and the fate of seven others were unknown, the ministry said.

The K-159, a 1960s-era attack submarine, was decommissioned on July 16, 1989.

The sub was being towed on four floating hulls from its base in the town of Gremikha to a plant in Polarnye to be scrapped.

The hulls were torn off on Friday night during a fierce storm, and the submarine sank in 560 feet of water, the ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) was in Sardinia for meetings with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. It was unclear whether he had been informed of the sub's sinking.

Russia's last major submarine accident was the sinking of the Kursk on Aug. 12, 2000, also in the Barents Sea. All 118 men on board were killed.

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