Russian Navy Holds Anti-Submarine Drills Near NATO Country, Prepares For More

On Monday in New York top diplomats traded accusations in a rare United Nations National Security Council debate over the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The US and its allies, particularly Britain, have also raised the sanctions pressure – now threatening hard hitting punitive measures on Putin’s “inner circle” – as well as targeting banks and energy companies in the event of a Ukraine offensive. 

Simultaneously, Russia’s Northern Fleet conduced anti-submarine drills in the Norwegian Sea, not far from NATO member Norway, at a moment of broader and rival naval movements in places like the Black Sea. 

Russia’s military described the northern drills as involving ships “hunting down a notional enemy’s submarine using sonars and data from military pilots,” according to TASS news agency.

“As part of the drills with the Arctic expeditionary task force, a group of the Northern Fleet’s combat ships and support vessels practiced anti-submarine assignments in the Norwegian Sea,” the defense ministry described. 

“The crews of the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov and the frigate Fleet Admiral Kasatonov hunted down the notional enemy’s submarines with the help of an anti-submarine warfare helicopter,” the military press office added.

The exercise involved a Russian missile cruiser, a frigate, and helicopters – and is said to be one of many drills happening across all fleets from the Atlantic to Pacific Oceans, and in the Mediterranean. 

At a moment the West is closely monitoring Russian military movements related to the Ukraine border build-up, TASS writes, “Overall, the sweeping drills will bring together over 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 items of military hardware and about 10,000 troops.”

In the past days there have even been Russian naval drills happening off Ireland’s coast, which have been source of major controversy, given it’s a ‘live fire’ exercise initially staged within the Republic of Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone. After a government protest to Russia, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney over the weekend issued an update to say the exercises would be “relocated outside of Ireland’s EEZ”.