Overview
- French and Belgian ships first tracked the Novorossiysk off Brittany, and the Dutch military said Saturday it escorted the sub and the tug Yakov Grebelskiy through the North Sea.
- On Tuesday, the UK reported a coordinated tracking effort involving roughly a dozen warships from six countries.
- A NATO maritime spokesperson said the submarine has surfaced numerous times on its return from the Mediterranean, a posture far from ideal for a vessel that relies on stealth.
- Russia’s Black Sea Fleet denies any malfunction and says the voyage is a routine inter‑fleet transfer, noting submarines are required to transit the English Channel on the surface.
- Claims from an intelligence‑linked Telegram channel of a fuel leak and “explosive hazard” remain unverified, with separate reports noting US patrol flights near Gibraltar early in the transit.