MOSCOW (Reuters) - The head of the Russian navy has ordered the Northern Fleet's nuclear-powered flagship, "Peter the Great", into dock, saying it is in such a poor state it could blow up at any time, Interfax news agency says.
"The ship is in such a condition that it may blow up any minute," the agency quoted Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov as saying. "It is especially dangerous since the vessel is equipped with a nuclear reactor," Kuroyedov said, adding he came to this conclusion when visiting the vessel last week.

Kuroyedov made his alarming comments about the cruiser, whose 20 cruise missiles can be equipped with nuclear warheads, as President Vladimir Putin was due to meet top brass in Moscow about social conditions for servicemen.

Kuroyedov gave the crew of the ship two weeks to fix up unspecified problems on board, which he made clear were connected with maintenance of the nuclear reactor. He said he discovered problems when inspecting the ship last week.

"In areas where admirals walk around it looks all right, but in places they do not visit, the situation is such that it (the ship) may explode any minute," he said. "I mean among other things maintaining the nuclear reactor."

In 2003, "Peter the Great", which frequently hosts top officials including Putin himself, was declared the Fleet's model ship.

Kuroyedov made his remarks after the popular daily newspaper Kommersant published an article on Tuesday saying the reason for bringing the ship into dock was the result of a power struggle among top Russian admirals.

Kommersant said Kuroyedov unexpectedly told the crew last week that their ship was going into dock.