NATO chief mocks Russia over malfunctioning submarine 'limping home from patrol'

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte mocked Russia on Oct. 13 over the malfunction of its submarine Novorossiysk, which was forced to surface off the coast of France last week.

NATO naval forces detected the submarine off the coast of Brittany on Oct. 9. The submarine surfaced and was later escorted by the Dutch navy along with the tugboat Yakov Grebelsky, the Dutch Defense Ministry said, indicating the vessel was likely being towed.

During his speech in Slovenia, Rutte openly ridiculed the "limping" Russian submarine.

"Now, in effect, there is hardly any Russian naval presence left in the Mediterranean," Rutte said. "There's a lone and broken Russian submarine limping home from patrol."

"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," he added.

The Novorossiysk, a diesel-electric submarine armed with Kalibr long-range cruise missiles, entered service in 2014 as part of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. It had reportedly been on patrol in the Mediterranean before the malfunction.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet denied reports of an emergency surfacing, claiming on Oct. 13 that the submarine was merely conducting a "scheduled inter-fleet transit" after completing Mediterranean operations.

According to the Dutch media outlet NL Times, the submarine suffered a serious fuel leak, forcing it to surface near France. Unable to dock in Black Sea or Syrian ports, it was redirected toward northern waters for repairs under NATO supervision.

Russian VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, believed to have ties to Russian security services, reported that the crew discovered fuel flooding the submarine's hold in late September.

The post claimed that with no qualified specialists on board to repair the damage, the crew was forced to surface and "drain the hold" directly into the sea to avoid an explosion.

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