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The Novorossiysk submarine suffered a 'serious accident' on Sunday, forcing it to surface near the Strait of Gibraltar...
International naval forces have rushed to respond to a 'serious accident' involving a Russian nuclear submarine, which was forced to surface near UK waters over the weekend.
New details have emerged about the incident in the Strait of Gibraltar, where the 74-meter missile-carrying ship Novorossiysk became an "explosive hazard" after experiencing a severe leak in its fuel system.
Russian Telegram channels described a catastrophic situation on board, as the hull of the secret submarine was flooded with oil.
Despite the critical nature of the ship's fuel supply system, military bloggers claimed that no one on board possessed the expertise to repair the defect and that there were no replacement parts available.
With the nuclear submarine threatening to explode in one of the world's busiest shipping corridors, concerns grew that the crew could begin dumping oil into the Mediterranean.
Although the Russian Navy refuses to acknowledge the incident, open-source ship-tracking software and eyewitnesses have noted a coordinated response from multiple military nations to track the troubled submarine, which has been traveling westward into the Atlantic since it was forced to surface.
A crew member aboard the submarine informed Russian military bloggers that "Novorossiysk, currently on combat duty in the Mediterranean Sea, is experiencing serious technical problems. Due to damage to the fuel system, fuel is leaking directly into the hold."
"The fuel accumulated in the bunker poses an explosive hazard. The source believes the crew has no choice but to start 'pumping fuel from the bunker' directly into the sea," he said.
The massive Kilo-class submarine Novorossiysk boasts six torpedoes with 12 reloads and can fire nuclear-capable supersonic cruise missiles.
The ship was spotted near British waters earlier this year, with the Royal Navy providing an escort as it departed the English Channel in January on its way to the North Sea.
Recently, it was spotted operating in the Mediterranean for several weeks alongside the Russian tugboat Jakob Grebelsky, according to Olive Press reports.
Following this catastrophic defect, the same tugboat has been monitored moving westward near the Algarve coast in Portugal, indicating that the Novorossiysk may also be connected to the Atlantic.
Amid fears that the submarine could explode, two French warships were spotted entering the region to pursue the damaged vessel.
A Spanish frigate was also spotted patrolling nearby waters, while flight radars picked up numerous NATO aircraft flying over the Strait of Gibraltar following the incident.
The waters around Gibraltar rank among the most monitored globally, serving as a bottleneck for all Mediterranean maritime traffic, with NATO and Spanish naval forces tracking every ship passing through the strait.
Earlier this month, the same forces kept a Russian intelligence-gathering ship, the Viktor Leonov, under surveillance as it navigated the narrow passage between North Africa and Southern Europe.
While such military maneuvers are common, they have taken on added importance for the Kremlin, given that Turkey's decision to close the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits following the conflict in Ukraine has left the Russian Black Sea fleet in a difficult situation.
This move effectively blocks the fleet from reaching the Mediterranean and wider international waters, making Russia increasingly dependent on submarines like the Novorossiysk for its global operations. /Adapted from Daily Star/
Sido dhe cfardo qe te ndodh Rusia kure nuk do te mund te hap luft direkte me NATON.e vetmja gje qe eshte e sigurt