"We have paid last respects to our colleagues who died tragically during tests of a new special product. They remained faithful till the bitter end and they passed away like true heroes", Likhachev said, as quoted by Rosatom.
He also noted that the three Rosatom employees who were injured during the explosion were receiving "the best medical assistance," voicing hope that they would recover soon.
"Such people are the pride of our country and the nuclear sphere. Our further work on the new pieces of armament, which will certainly be completed, will be the best tribute to them. We will fulfil the order of our motherland, its safety will be guaranteed", Likhachev added.
Rosatom has published a list of its specialists that died in the explosion, these are employees from the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics:
- Aleksei Vyushin
- Evgeniy Korataev
- Vyacheslav Lipshev
- Sergei Pichugin
- Vladislav Yanovsky
They have been presented for state awards.
The statement comes after five employees of Rosatom were killed on 8 August in the explosion that happened during tests of a liquid-propellant rocket engine at a military site in Arkhangelsk Region in northwestern Russia.
