Were early Soviet nuclear submarines unusually unsafe?

Were first-generation Soviet nuclear submarines as unsafe as NATO accounts suggested?

Broadly yes; their own service record showed serious problems, although early Western nuclear submarines also set only a modest safety benchmark.

The safety criticism was not merely NATO propaganda because Soviet submarines themselves displayed serious leakage and reliability problems. Early Western nuclear boats were better, but their own first-generation standard was hardly exemplary. The comparison confirms real Soviet deficiencies without presenting Western development as trouble-free.