Sweden steps up search for 'crippled Russian submarine' making Mayday distress call off its coast
- Swedish ships, helicopters and troops are scouring waters off Stockholm
- Follows reports a Russian submarine ran into difficulties on secret mission
- Sources say a distress signal in Russian was intercepted
- Soviet submarine sightings caused security alerts in Sweden in the 1980s
- The Russian defence ministry denied the reports today
| Sweden has beefed up its military presence amid reports of 'a crippled Russian submarine' off its coast.
In
a throw back to the Cold War, Swedish ships, helicopters and troops are
scouring the waters off Stockholm following reports that a Russian
submarine might have had mechanical problems while on a secret mission
in the archipelago.
The
operation began after Sweden's ministry said it was given a reliable
tip-off about 'foreign underwater activity' off the country's coast in
the Baltic Sea.
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Swedish ships, helicopters and troops
are scouring the waters off Stockholm for what was officially described
as 'foreign underwater activity'
The Svenska Dagbladet newspaper said
Sweden had begun a search after a distress signal in Russian was
detected on an emergency frequency
The
Svenska Dagbladet newspaper said Sweden had begun a search after a
distress signal in Russian was detected on an emergency frequency on
Thursday evening.
Encrypted radio traffic from a point in the Stockholm archipelago and Kaliningrad was picked up later as well.
Another
signal was intercepted on Friday night and Swedish intelligence was
able to pinpoint the locations of the participants. One was in the
waters off Stockholm, while the other could be traced to Kaliningrad,
the port that is the home of Russia's Baltic Sea fleet.
Defence
analysts cited in other reports speculated that a submarine might have
been replacing old spy equipment or monitoring a Swedish naval
exercise.
Captain
Jonas Wikström said: 'We consider the information we received as very
trustworthy. I, as head of operations, have therefore decided to
increase the number of units in the area.'
Russia's
military intervention in Ukraine this year has fuelled suspicion about
its intentions towards other neighbouring states, notably in the Baltic.
It
has several submarines based in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave bordered
by Poland and Lithuania and facing out to Sweden, as well as a much
bigger force near Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula.
Last
month, another Swedish newspaper, Expressen, reported an incursion by
two Russian SU-24 fighter bombers into national airspace. Sweden
scrambled jets to see them off, it said.
Swedish navy fast-attack vessels are engaged in a military operation in the Stockholm Archipelago
Swedish corvette HMS Visby patrols the
Stockholm Archipelago searching for what the military says is a foreign
threat in the waters
Swedish minesweeper HMS Koster searching for what the military says is a foreign threat in its waters
The submarine hunt is an early
political test for Stefan Löfven, the new prime minister, whose
centre-left minority government took office this month
In
September two Russian Su-24 attack jets reportedly violated Swedish
airspace over the Baltic, prompting Sweden's air force to scramble its
own fighters.
Soviet submarine sightings caused security alerts in Sweden, which is not a member of Nato, in the 1980s.
The
most famous incident took place in 1981 when a Soviet submarine hit
rocks near Karlskrona, the main Swedish naval base, in the south of the
country.
The Russian captain claimed that the submarine had strayed off course and got lost.
The
submarine hunt is an early political test for Stefan Löfven, the new
prime minister, whose centre-left minority government took office this
month.
But Russia defence ministry denied reports that one of its submarines got into trouble off Sweden.
A
spokesman said: 'Russia's submarines, like the surface ships, have been
following their tasks in the world's oceans according to the plan.
'There have not been any emergencies or accidents with the Russian military vessels.
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