Russian submarine intercepted in Channel as fears over Putin's next move skyrocket
NATO chief Mark Rutte warned earlier that members of the alliance are Russia's next target.
A Russian submarine has been shadowed by the Royal Navy in a three-day operation through storm-hit weather in the English Channel. Marchwood-based support ship RFA Tidesurge with a Merlin helicopter onboard was deployed to keep watch on the Kilo-class submarine Krasnodar and accompanying tug boat Altay.
The Russian vessels sailed westward from the North Sea through the Strait of Dover and into the English Channel. Captain James Allen, commanding officer of RFA Tidesurge, said: “There is nothing like a Russian submarine to focus the mind for any mariner.” Lieutenant Commander David Emery, flight commander of 814 Naval Air Squadron’s Atlantic Flight, said: “Maintaining an overt presence and continued overwatch of Russian vessels in UK waters is vital for national security.”
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As the submarine, which sailed on the surface despite the weather conditions, arrived near the island of Ushant, north-west of France, the Tidesurge and the helicopter, which stayed onboard for the duration of the operation, handed over the monitoring duty to a NATO ally.
The shadowing comes after Portsmouth-based patrol ship HMS Mersey, a Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron and a specialist submarine-hunting Merlin aircraft from 824 Naval Air Squadron were involved in shadowing Russian submarine Novorossiysk as it sailed west through UK waters in July.
Earlier this week, Defence Secretary John Healey announced Atlantic Bastion, a new multimillion-pound hi-tech force to protect undersea cables and pipelines from the threat of Russian submarines. The UK has also signed the Lunna House defence pact with Norway to protect undersea cables from the Russian threat.
The Ministry of Defence had previously said there had been a 30% rise in Russian vessels “threatening” UK waters in the past two years.
News about the Krasnodar presence in the Channel came as the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, told the alliance's member state: "We are Russia's next target".
Speaking at a security conference event in Berlin, Mr Rutte said the Western military alliance should not be complacent and should make all efforts to prevent a war that could be "on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured".
Explaining he thinks Russia could be ready to attack NATO in five years, he added: "We are Russia's next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don't feel the urgency, and too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now."
