Russian ships chase away Dutch sub engaged in 'awkward' maneuvers
A Russian naval group stationed in the Mediterranean was forced to chase away a Dutch submarine after it approached them for monitoring purposes, says the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Russia’s “naval search-and-assault group of large anti-submarine vessels, ‘Severomorsk’ and ‘Vice-Admiral Kulakov,’ spotted the diesel-electric submarine of the Netherlands’ Navy, which tried to approach the carrier battle group of the Northern Fleet for monitoring,” said the ministry in a statement released on Wednesday.
It added that the group had easily spotted the sub and forced it to leave the vicinity.
“Russian ships were tracking [the Dutch submarine’s] maneuvers and forced it to leave the area of the carrier group,” added the statement.
It noted that such “awkward” and “dangerous” attempts to monitor Russia’s naval fleets could result in “serious navigation accidents.”
Following the Dutch sub's departure, the group carried out an anti-submarine defense training exercise.
The statement also stressed that this is not the first time Russian ships had been shadowed by NATO vessels.
“The carrier group of the Northern fleet has regularly spotted NATO submarines on its path during the whole trip,” it said.
Earlier this month, a nuclear Virginia-class submarine had attempted to “track” the Russian ships, the statement said, adding, “It is worth noting that having a large tonnage, vessels of this class are not designed to conduct surveillance operations.”
The Russian naval group, which includes flagship aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the Peter the Great warship, has been stationed in the Mediterranean since mid-October as part of Russia’s anti-terror operations.
The Russian forces are engaged in an anti-terror campaign in support of the Syrian government, which has been dealing with a foreign-sponsored conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people since March 2011, according to an estimate by the UN.
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