(MOSCOW) — Fire broke out on one of the Russian navy’s deep-sea research submersibles, and toxic fumes from the blaze killed 14 sailors aboard, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, although it released few details about the disaster or the vessel involved.

The Defense Ministry did not say how many sailors were aboard the vessel during Monday’s fire, whether there were any survivors or if it was submerged at the time. But Russian media reported it was the country’s most secret submersible, a nuclear-powered vessel designed for sensitive missions at great depths.

President Vladimir Putin, who came under criticism for his handling of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster in 2000 that killed 118 sailors, canceled a scheduled appearance and immediately summoned Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for a briefing on the blaze, which was under investigation.

“Fourteen submariners have died of poisoning by fumes from the fire,” Shoigu told Putin during a televised meeting. “The fire was extingu..

The newly elected European Parliament got off to a somewhat tumultuous start on Tuesday as protests from anti-EU, anti-Brexit and Catalan-separatist groups disrupted the proceedings in Strasbourg.

The proceedings were marked by protests by the UK’s anti-EU Brexit Party and Catalan nationalists, whose MEPs have been blocked by the Spanish government from taking their seats. Others defended the captain of a German rescue ship who was arrested in Italy on Monday over migrant rights.

The event took place as EU leaders went into a third day of negotiations about who to appoint for its top jobs.

The Brexit Party’s 29 MEPs turned their backs when an ensemble started playing Beethoven’s ‘Ode to joy’, the European anthem.

Hundreds of Catalan demonstrators protested outside the Parliament against the decision to deny three separatist politicians their seats. Parliament President Antonio Tajani said he could not treat them as MEPs for the time being since Spanish authorities do not recognize ..