NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte took a swipe at Russia’s navy on Monday after one of its submarines appeared to suffer mechanical problems and was seen being escorted through European waters. Speaking during a visit to Slovenia, Rutte quipped that the vessel looked more like it was “limping home” than carrying out a normal patrol, drawing laughter from his audience.
The submarine in question, the Novorossiysk, is part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and is armed with Kalibr cruise missiles. It was first spotted on October 9 traveling on the surface near the coast of Brittany, France — a rare sight for a combat submarine that typically operates submerged. The French navy monitored the vessel, and the Dutch Defense Ministry later confirmed that the Novorossiysk and a Russian towing ship, the Yakov Grebelsky, were guided through the North Sea by Dutch naval forces.
Russian officials quickly rejected reports that the submarine had experienced an emergency or needed assistance. Moscow’s defense ministry insisted that the Novorossiysk was simply following navigation rules in the English Channel as part of a “scheduled inter-fleet transfer” after a Mediterranean deployment.
However, multiple European defense sources and independent Russian outlets painted a different picture. The Telegram channel VChK-OGPU — known for posting leaked information from within Russia — claimed in late September that the vessel had suffered a serious fuel leak, forcing the crew to pump fuel out of its hull to prevent an explosion. The report said the problem left the submarine unable to continue its underwater mission and that a towing ship was dispatched to assist it back toward Russian-controlled waters.
In his speech, Rutte suggested the episode symbolized Russia’s declining naval capability in the Mediterranean. “There’s hardly any Russian fleet presence left,” he said, joking that what once resembled a Cold War thriller now looked more like “a search for a repair shop.” NATO observers viewed the incident as further evidence that Russia’s navy, once seen as a global threat, is struggling to maintain its vessels amid international sanctions and logistical shortages.
NATO’s Maritime Command released images of a surfaced submarine being tracked by a French frigate earlier in the week, stating that allied forces were maintaining “constant vigilance” across the Atlantic and European waters. The statement did not name the Novorossiysk directly but emphasized NATO’s readiness to monitor all activity in its maritime zones.
The submarine, launched in 2014, was one of several modern diesel-electric models that Moscow touted as proof of its renewed naval power. Yet the vessel’s current condition, and the need for apparent assistance, have become a source of embarrassment for the Kremlin. The Novorossiysk had been operating in the Mediterranean before being recalled to Russian waters for what officials describe as “routine maintenance.”
Rutte’s remarks come amid heightened scrutiny of Russia’s military performance at sea and in Ukraine, where equipment losses and logistical issues have multiplied. For NATO, the incident is another reminder that vigilance — and humor — can coexist in the tense reality of modern geopolitics.
Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license and was created by PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY Official website.
