A Russian Navy submarine left the Mediterranean and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, heading for the Atlantic waters, accompanied by a seagoing tugboat. According to military sources, the KILO-class submarine should now cross the Portuguese coast towards the Baltic Sea, where it will undergo maintenance.
This withdrawal, at a time when the risk of an escalation of the war in Ukraine increases and the tug-of-war with NATO intensifies, leaves Russia with just one KILO submarine in the Mediterranean, after also Marshal’s SLAVA-class cruiser in August. . leave the region.
08.45 local time Russian Navy Project 636.3 Improved Kilo-class submarine Westbound at Europa Point en route to the Atlantic Ocean #Gibraltar @KaptainLOMA @CovertShores @MatchlessMan410 @shipohollic @Capt_Navy #OPWest pic.twitter.com/hiIA3HVaPQ
— Michael J Sanchez (@key2med) September 24, 2022
Current position of Sergey Balk, Russian tugboat escorting a Russian Kilo-class submarine through the Strait of Gibraltar this morning. Late last week the USN & RAF P8 Poseidon appeared for deployment in Spain. @Jenjustjen20 @FouthTimeLucky @TheShipYard2 @MT_Anderson @AaronCaptaino pic.twitter.com/hChW1epm3L
— Tim LG (@IntercityFC) September 24, 2022
The most likely explanation for the submarine’s departure is that it is in need of maintenance, as there are insufficient capacity facilities in Tartus, Syria, where it is stationed. According to the website of defense specialist hisuitton.com, it concerns the submarine Krasnodar, which has been in the Mediterranean Sea for more than a year since August 2021.
Krasnodar was expected to go to the Black Sea after a stopover in Syria, but when Turkey closed the Bosphorus Passage, which connects the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, to warships, the Russian submarine had to enter the waters after the invasion of Ukraine. of the Mediterranean Sea. by Russia.
It is recalled that last August, the Portuguese Armed Forces accompanied two Russian warships in the Portuguese Sea on their way to the Mediterranean Sea, which the Armed Forces General Staff considered “normal procedure when warships from non-NATO countries within the Portuguese EEZ”.
Source: DN
