"Limping" and "broken" Russian submarine Novorossiysk mocked by Nato chief after Royal Navy scrambled
.jpg?width=96&crop=1:1,smart)
The Nato Secretary General has ridiculed the state of a Russian submarine spotted loitering at the entrance of the English Channel.
RFN Novorossiysk was spotted off the coast of France, with international and Royal Navy assets scrambled to shadow the vessel alongside a tug boat. The submersible was spotted surfacing from the water while she was monitored by HMS Iron Duke and her Wildcat helicopter from 825 Naval Air Squadron.
Nato Chief Mark Rutte joked that this was due to a malfunction. He referred to RFN Novorossiysk as “a lone and broken Russian submarine limping home from patrol” - mocking Moscow given its dwindling fleet in the Mediterranean. Dutch authorities said on Saturday (October 11) the submarine was under tow in the North Sea after surfacing near the coast. The Dutch Navy later escorted the vessel alongside the support tug Yakov Grebelsky.
As reported in the BBC, Mr Rutte said: “What a change from the 1984 Tom Clancy novel The Hunt for Red October. Today, it seems more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic. There is hardly any Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean left.”
Russia's Black Sea Fleet said the diesel-powered submarine Novorossiysk came above water to comply with navigation rules in the English Channel, adding that the vessel was conducting a scheduled inter-fleet transit. Their press service, quoted by the Interfax news agency, said: “Information disseminated by a number of media outlets about an alleged malfunction and, as a result, the emergency surfacing of the diesel-electric submarine Novorossiysk off the coast of France does not correspond to reality.”
VChK-OGPU, a Telegram channel that publishes purported Russian security leaks, reported in late September RFN Novorossiysk’s hull was leaking fuel while travelling in the Strait of Gibraltar, raising the risk of an explosion. HMS Cutlass, part of the Royal Navy’s Gibraltar Squadron, was keeping her beady eyes on the vessels during the voyage. The total Royal Navy operation took place between October 7 and 9.
Armed forces minister Al Carns said Russian vessels transiting in the English Channel was becoming more commonplace, and deploying assets alongside Nato sends a strong signal the UK is pushing back against aggression from Moscow.