A Russian submarine was intercepted by the Royal Navy as it neared the English Channel. The Stary Oskol, a Kilo-class submarine capable of carrying cruise missiles and torpedoes, was first detected in the North Sea, where Nato forces are monitoring the waters.
The Ministry of Defence said it would continue to be shadowed by the Type 23 Duke-class frigate, which had been taking part in commemorations for the Battle of Jutland centenary. The defence secretary, Michael Fallon, said: “This shows that the navy is maintaining a vigilant watch in international and territorial waters to keep Britain safe and protect us from potential threats.” HMS Kent’s commanding officer, Cdr Daniel Thomas, said: “Locating this submarine was a combined effort with Nato allies and shadowing such units is routine activity for the Royal Navy. We continue to escort the submarine as it conducts its passage, providing a visible presence,” reported The Guardian.
This incident comes on the heels of multiple aggressive intercepts of NATO aircraft near Russian borders and aggressive actions by Russian combat aircraft near NATO airspace. Russian jets famously buzzed the U.S.S. Donald Cook recently in the Black Sea, leading presidential candidate Donald Trump to say, “At some point, you have to shoot them down.”
For it’s part, the Russian Defense Ministry laughed off the episode. “The Russian Defense Ministry is surprised that the British Royal Navy and its NATO allies had to take joint efforts to discover a submarine, which was moving up-top at a slow speed,” the ministry said. “It would be strange if the sub had gone unnoticed by the British Royal Navy and its NATO allies. The more so that the merchant ships from various countries, which were on head-on and parallel courses, stuck to the long-standing maritime tradition of welcoming our sailors in the Barents, Norwegian and North Seas during the several days of the journey,” reported the Russian State News Agency TASS.
