London’s military worried
Russian submarine passed British nuclear weapons base
17.06.2024, 22:10
At the beginning of June, Moscow sent several ships from the Northern Fleet to Cuba. On the journey to the Caribbean island, the Russian submarine “Kazan” moved along the Irish and Scottish coasts. The route caused alarm in London.
According to a media report, the Russian nuclear submarine “Kazan” temporarily caused a security alarm in Great Britain on its way to Cuba. As the “Daily Mail” reports, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Defense Minister Grant Shapps were informed of the situation in a secret briefing after the “Kazan” was discovered off the west coast of Scotland.
According to the report, the “Kazan” was sighted on June 5 by a British Boeing P8 Poseidon submarine hunter and followed along the Irish coast to Scotland. The Russian submarine also passed the British nuclear weapons base Faslane-on-Clyde on the Scottish west coast, but did not enter British waters. The base houses the majority of the British submarine fleet, including the latest generation of hunter submarines. The majority of the kingdom’s nuclear weapons are also stored there.
“The Achilles heel of the British Isles is Ireland”
According to the Daily Mail, British military officials were concerned that the Kazan might be looking for weak points in the area. “The Achilles heel of the British Isles is Ireland,” retired Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Crawford is quoted as saying by the paper. “They have virtually no military capability to monitor or repel such Russian advances, and this has not gone unnoticed by the Kremlin.”
The “Kazan” entered the port of Havana last Wednesday together with the frigate “Admiral Gorshkov”. According to Cuba, the reason for the visit from June 12 to 17 is the historical friendship between the two states. According to media reports, Russia is also planning military exercises with ships and aircraft in the Caribbean. These would be the first exercises of this kind by the Russian military in the Western Hemisphere in five years.
According to a senior US official, Moscow wanted to send a message to Washington with the action near the United States. “It’s about Russia showing that it is still capable of demonstrating a certain level of maritime strength,” the official told the Miami Herald newspaper last week.