NATO chief Rutte mocks the Russian navy: no Hunt for Red October, but a search for the nearest mechanic

The Russian Navy has virtually no presence in the Mediterranean anymore. Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, said this during a meeting on Monday press conference in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.

“There is only one lonely, broken Russian submarine limping back home after a patrol [op de Middellandse Zee]”, said Rutte. He was referring to the Russian submarine Novorossiejsk, which recently surfaced off the coast of Brittany, France. NATO suspects that the submarine is on its way to a Russian port to repair a technical defect.

VChK-OGPU, a Russian Telegram channel that claims to have sources within Russian security services, reported late last month that diesel was leaking into the submarine’s hold. Due to a lack of technicians and spare parts on board, the Russians are said to fear an explosion.

According to the formal Russian version, the submarine only surfaced in Brittany to comply with navigation rules on the busy British Channel. Nonsense, according to VChK-OGPU. The crew tried to pump out the diesel and dump it at sea.

Towing vessel

Last Saturday, the Dutch Navy escorted the submarine and towing vessel Yakov Grebelsky in the North Sea. “What a difference from the novel The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy from 1984. Today it looks more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic,” Rutte sneered in Slovenia. The book in question is about the fictional Russian submarine The Red October, which has very advanced equipment.

“In 2022, Russia thought it could crush Ukraine within days. In the fourth year of its brutal war, Russia is struggling to make progress,” Rutte said. “The Russian army is […] overloaded.”

The Novorossiysk is named after the Russian port city of the same name on the Black Sea and has been part of the Black Sea Fleet since 2014.

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