Nato chief mocks ‘broken’ Russian submarine as it resurfaces off France

Nato chief Mark Rutte has mocked one of Russia’s submarines for “limping home from patrol”, claiming the vessel had been forced to surface because of technical problems.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet denied its diesel-powered submarine Novorossiysk had suffered a serious malfunction, after it surfaced in French waters on the weekend and was escorted by Dutch authorities through the English channel.

Rutte’s public ridicule of Moscow’s military capability signals tensions between Europe and Russia continue to escalate in the midst of the war in Ukraine.

In a speech in Slovenia, Rutte dismissed Moscow’s argument that the vessel surfaced because it was complying with navigation rules in the English Channel, as he argued it was broken.

“Now, in effect, there is hardly any Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean left. There’s a lone and broken Russian submarine limping home from patrol,” 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.”

Russian authorities have denied Novorossiysk was forced to surface because of technical problems.

“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,” a spokesperson for the military told Interfax newsagency.

"In accordance with international navigation regulations, submarines are to navigate the English Channel only while on the surface.”

However, a Telegram group called VChK-OGPU which publishes purported Russian security leaks, said on 27 September fuel was leaking into the hold of the submarine which risked creating an explosion.

In addition, the Dutch defence ministry said its navy escorted Novorossiysk and an accompanying towing vessel, the Yakov Grebelsky, in the North Sea.

Tensions surrounding submarines in European waters flared earlier this month when Nato’s Maritime Command published photos on 9 October to X of what it said was a French navy frigate observing a Russian submarine operating on the surface off the coast of Brittany.

“Nato stands ready to defend our Alliance with constant vigilance and maritime awareness across the Atlantic,” it posted, without naming the submarine.

The Novorossiysk is a part of the improved Kilo Class II as construction on it began in August 2010 before being completed for service in August 2014.

It is the lead of the improved Kilo Class II and is part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

The submarine was deployed with the Mediterranean Sea Taskforce as part of Russia’s intervention in the Syrian civil war in 2015, it then received a refit from February 2021 before returning to service in April 2024.