Russian submarines and other warships regularly pass through the waters adjacent to the UK and France on their way to the Mediterranean and Black seas, with the subs doing so in a surfaced position and often accompanied by support vessels.
A pair of Royal Navy warships intercepted and shadowed a Russian Project 636.3 Varshavyanka-class submarine (NATO codename Improved Kilo), believed to be the B-265 Krasnodar, as it sailed past the UK's south coast and on into the North Sea, the Navy has said.
The Russian vessel is said to have made its passage through the English Channel between 19 and 21 July, with the HMS Tyne River-class offshore patrol vessel tasked with following the sub before being relieved by the HMS Mersey, another River-class patrol ship, as the Russian vessel entered the North Sea.
Accompanying the Krasnodar was the Sergei Balk, an ocean-going support tug.
According to Forbes defence contributor and open source intelligence analyst H. I. Sutton, the Krasnodar left Tartus, Syria on 1 July, and has been tracked as it made the trek from the Mediterranean toward the Baltic Sea, with St. Petersburg being its possible final destination.
The Russian sub has been sailing in surfaced mode, and has made no attempt whatsoever to hide its position. The Russian defence ministry has not yet commented on the shadowing incident, although previously expressed “surprise” at the tenacity of the Royal Navy's efforts to trace, track and shadow Russian subs travelling…
