'Limping home' - NATO Secretary General mocks broken Russian submarine near France
Photo: Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General (Getty Images)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte mocked the technical condition of Russia's submarine fleet. In particular, he called one of the Russian submarines "broken" and joked that it is "limping home", Reuters reports.
Rutte's statement referred to the Russian diesel submarine Novorossiysk, which was recently spotted near the coast of France. Russia claimed that the submarine had no malfunctions and surfaced to comply with navigation rules.
At the same time, Dutch authorities reported that Novorossiysk was seen being towed in the North Sea, contradicting Russia's statement.
The NATO chief emphasized that Russia has effectively lost its naval presence in the Mediterranean.
"Now, in effect, there is hardly any Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean left. There's a lone and broken Russian submarine limping home from patrol," Rutte said.
He also noted that the current situation resembles more of a comedy than a spy drama, referencing Tom Clancy's novel The Hunt for Red October.
"Today, it seems more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic," Rutte said.
Russia’s shadow fleet
Every sixth tanker in the world belongs to the Russian shadow fleet, accounting for about 17% of all active tankers.
Since the beginning of 2025, analysts have counted 940 vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet, a figure 45% higher than last year.
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence reported that Russia's shadow fleet now includes up to 1,000 vessels with a total deadweight of over 100 million tons.
Most of these are old and cheap tankers used to export oil and petroleum products.
RBC-Ukraine previously reported that on September 19, the European Commission introduced its 19th package of anti-Russian sanctions, which includes additional measures targeting Russia's shadow fleet.
