Media: Russia's Submarine Problem Is Much More Serious Than Imagined

The deployment of submarines now looks more like a show-off.

The Russian submarine B-261 Novorossiysk, which is a carrier of Kalibras, recently returned from the Mediterranean Sea in disgrace due to a technical malfunction. Its fuel system failed on it, causing diesel fuel to fill the hold. However, as experts at Naval News point out, the main problem is not the malfunction itself, but the global causes of this incident, which point to a much deeper problem of submarines for the Russian Navy.

First of all, due to the aggression against Ukraine, Turkey has closed the passage of any warships through the Bosporus. Therefore, for missions in the Mediterranean Sea, the Russian Federation began to attract ships that were in the Baltic Fleet, which as a result have to travel 4 thousand kilometers to the place of deployment and back. That is, much of the autonomy of navigation and technical resource is now spent on the way to the place of duty.

The second blow was the loss of Russia's presence in Syria in early 2025 and its largest asset - the Navy's logistics center in the port of Tartus, which deprived Russian ships of a maintenance and repair base in the Mediterranean Sea.

And it was this that finally led to the consequences when a Russian submarine suffered a breakdown and had to go back. At the same time demonstrating not so much low reliability, but the overall inability of the Russian Navy to perform tasks in the Mediterranean Sea.

"The deployment of submarines now looks more like a show-off than a meaningful naval capability. Russia has lost any sense of permanence in the Mediterranean. It's not just a story about one unfortunate submarine, it's a growing hole in capacity and capability," Naval News writes.

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