by WorldTribune Staff, October 31, 2016
The British Royal Navy and NATO tracked three Russian submarines through the English channel that were en route to the Mediterranean to join forces with an aircraft carrier group.
Two nuclear-powered Akula-class subs and a disesel-powered Kilo-class sub entered the North Atlantic from ports around Murmansk last week. The three attack submarines, armed with state-of-the-art cruise missiles, have joined a Russian naval task force heading towards Syria.
The submarines have joined forces with the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, which sailed down the North Sea last week.
“The Russians now have submarines in the Med,” a senior British naval source told The Sunday Times.
Some observers feared the submarines may used for a final assault on the besieged city of Aleppo.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned the Syria-bound fleet could be used to target civilians in Aleppo and to launch more airstrikes.
“The concerns are not based on anything as our planes have not come near Aleppo for nine days,” Russian Foreign Ministry official Andrei Kelin told the RIA news agency.
“Our battle group is in the Mediterranean. Our ships have always had a presence there. Why make some spurious suggestions and then make some political recommendations based on them? It is of course absurd.”