Kursk Oblast established. The latter subdivision existed until 1928, when the territory of Kursk Governorate became a part of Central Black Earth Oblast. As Central Chernozem Oblast was very large its administration was very difficult, on June 13, 1934 it was divided into two oblasts: Kursk Oblast and Voronezh Oblast. In the period between 1934 and 1954, oblasts' borders were frequently adjusted. However, the area and borders of the oblast have remained stable from 1954. During World War II, the territory of Kursk Oblast was occupied by the German troops from fall of 1941 until summer of 1943. The Battle of Kursk,
Kursk submarine disaster Kursk submarine disaster The sinking of the nuclear-powered "Kursk" (Russian: ), took place during the first major Russian naval exercise in more than ten years, in the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000, killing all 118 personnel on board. The Russian government and navy came under intense criticism over the incident. Nearby ships registered the initial explosion and a second, much larger, explosion which registered 4.2 on the Richter scale on seismographs as far away as Alaska, yet the Russian Navy did not realise that the sub had sunk and did not initiate a search for more than six hours,