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NATO monitors Russian ‘limping’ submarine

Posted by Europe correspondent on

Brussels 14.10.2025 A Russian submarine Novorossiysk B-261 that recently surfaced off the coast of France with mechanical issues is “limping home,” according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The mocking remarks about the alliance’s nemesis preceded high-level talks this week.

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“What a change from the 1984 Tom Clancy novel ‘The Hunt for Red October,’” Secretary-General Mark Rutte said. “Today, it seems more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic.”

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Rutte was speaking in the run-up to October 15 meetings at NATO headquarters with U.S. Defense/War Secretary Pete Hegseth. Rutte said that while Russia remains formidable, parts of its military have been hit hard by the war in Ukraine.

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“The information disseminated by several media outlets regarding an alleged malfunction and, as a result, the emergency surfacing of the diesel-electric submarine Novorossiysk off the coast of France is untrue,” the statement reads.

The navy’s press service clarified that the submarine’s crew is currently conducting a scheduled inter-fleet voyage after completing missions as part of the Russian Navy’s permanent task force in the Mediterranean. Among other things, they also reiterated that, in accordance with international navigation regulations, submarines transit the English Channel exclusively on the surface.

On October 7, the French General Staff reported that a French naval frigate was escorting a Russian submarine surfaced off the coast of Brittany, heading towards the English Channel. In a published image, the French military suggested that the submarine in question was the Novorossiysk.

At the end of September, a Telegram channel notorious for its network of Russian intelligence sources reported that a Black Sea fleet submarine Novorossiysk had confronted with the “serious technical problems” while on a mission off Gibraltar, in the Mediterranean. The Novorossiysk submarine was at risk of exploding, it said, and according to online sleuths, later surfaced, revealing its location.

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The anti-Kremlin Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported that the 74-metre-long Kilo-class Novorossiysk “currently on combat duty in the Mediterranean” had experienced a technical failure, and that fuel was leaking into the bilge, the very bottom of the vessel hull.

“The submarine has neither the spare parts nor the qualified specialists onboard to fix the malfunction,” VChK-OGPU wrote, and warned that the sub “now poses an explosion hazard”.

The Novorossiysk belongs to one of the more recent Kilo-class models, and was put into service in August 2014. It joined Russia’s Black Sea fleet in September 2024.

Like other submarines in its category, the Novorossiysk’s main purpose is to operate in coastal waters where the seas are not too deep. It is equipped with torpedoes, however, which would make a potential fire onboard particularly dangerous, and is capable of carrying Kalibr cruise missiles – the Russian equivalent of US Tomahawk missiles. It can also deploy naval mines.

The NATO high official confirmed that the submarine was monitored by the allies on the way home. He added that the possible technical failure was not surprising, taking taking into consideration, the lamentalbe state of Russian Black sea fleet.

The NATO high official confirmed that the submarine was monitored by the allies on the way home. He added that the possible technical failure was not surprising, taking taking into consideration, the lamentable state of Russian Black sea fleet.

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