The Daily Populous Sunday October 12nd, 2025 evening edition
Authored by united24media.com and submitted by jackytheblade

A French Navy frigate has been tracking a surfaced Russian submarine off the coast of Brittany, according to UK Defence Journal, citing a statement from NATO Maritime Command.

In a post shared on social media, NATO stated: “We. Are. Watching. A French Navy frigate conducts surveillance of the Alliance’s maritime approaches, marking the presence of a Russian submarine operating on the surface off the coast of Brittany. NATO stands ready to defend our Alliance with constant vigilance and maritime awareness across the Atlantic.”

The monitoring operation is part of NATO’s regular maritime posture in the North Atlantic, where allied forces maintain surveillance of both surface and subsurface activities near European waters.

According to UK Defence Journal, the submarine in question is believed to be the Novorossiysk (B-261), a Project 636.3 Improved Kilo II-class diesel-electric attack submarine belonging to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

The vessel was built at the Admiralty Shipyards in Saint Petersburg, launched in 2013, and commissioned a year later.

With a submerged displacement of about 3,100 tonnes and a length of 74 meters, the Novorossiysk can remain at sea for up to 45 days and dive to depths of 300 meters. It is equipped with six 533 mm torpedo tubes capable of launching torpedoes, mines, or Kalibr cruise missiles.

The submarine has previously operated in the Mediterranean in support of Russian military actions in Syria and has made several rotations through the region as part of Moscow’s Mediterranean Task Force. In 2015, its visit to the Spanish port of Ceuta drew criticism from British officials due to its proximity to Gibraltar.

Recent Russian social media posts from late September claimed the Novorossiysk had suffered a diesel fuel leak, though UK Defence Journal noted that the extent of the damage has not been confirmed.

Earlier in September, Russia’s Arkhangelsk—a Yasen-M class nuclear-powered submarine—launched Kalibr cruise missiles at mock targets in the Barents Sea as part of the Zapad 2025 military drills, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The exercise, which temporarily closed off the area to civilian traffic, was framed as a test of long-range precision strikes using advanced submarine capabilities.

dbratell on October 12nd, 2025 at 13:14 UTC »

> belonging to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet

In other words, with the Bosphorus straits closed, it has not been home since at least 2022.

If it had not been so dangerous and under control of Putin, I would have imagined a lost little sub doing circles in the Mediterranean.

tismij on October 12nd, 2025 at 11:53 UTC »

It's been handed over to the Dutch, they are now escorting it further along. The French warship did not "move in", they were also escorting it. Even in international waters lots of countries now escort any Russian war vessel passing through it, even broken ones going home to get patched up.

THE_KING95 on October 12nd, 2025 at 11:16 UTC »

It's been surfaced since their journey from the Mediterranean. It's been at risk of exploding, theres no way they're going to dive.