Russia’s Kazan Yasen-M submarine (Picture: SevFlot/e2w)
One of Vladimir Putin’s nuclear submarines has been spotted off the coast of Scotland, it has been reported.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak and and defence secretary Grant Shapps were told at a ‘secret’ briefing that a Russian Yasen-class submarine was detected earlier in June.
An RAF surveillance plane trailed its movements along the west coast of Ireland to Scotland.
It is understood that the 13,800-tonne submarine Kazan crossed near to Britain’s nuclear naval base in Faslane without actually crossing territorial waters.
The submarine arrived at the port of Havana, Cuba on June 12, 2024 (Picture: AP)
A senior government source cited by the Express said about the sighting on June 5: ‘The PM was informed – this is standard practice.
‘The Cabinet is also informed and if needed the defence secretary can give his direction.
‘I understand the submarine is a Yasen class – capable of launching multiple cruise missiles.
‘The sighting of this submarine will be a significant concern: is it trying to collate chatter to gauge the mood of the public during the election, or is its presence part of a wider information operation?’
Russia’s Kazan submarine has since arrived in Havana, Cuba, for a five-day visit on Friday.
Western leaders have downplayed the unusual deployment, some 100 miles from US territory.
It comes after the US and Germany lifted an embargo for Ukraine to deploy US-supplied weapons on Russia’s territory.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.