US: Russian subs patrolling off US coast: Pentagon
Thu Aug 6 03:59:58 EST 2009
WASHINGTON, Aug 5 AFP - The US military on Wednesday said Russian subs were patrolling off the US East coast but Moscow shrugged off the report, saying its vessels always operate legally.
US Northern Command issued a brief statement that the submarines were being monitored while stopping short of any protests against Russia.
"NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) and US Northern Command are aware of Russian submarine activity off the East coast operating in international waters," said James Graybeal, spokesman for NORAD and Northern Command.
"We have been monitoring them during transit and recognise the right of all nations to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters according to international law," he said in the statement.
The New York Times first reported the presence of two Russian nuclear-powered, Akula class submarines off the American coast, the first such move in several years that carried echoes of Cold War tensions.
Russia neither confirmed or denied that its submarines were patrolling near US territory, but suggested there was undue "hysteria" in this case.
"Activities of Russian submarines in the world's oceans outside their own waters do not violate international maritime law and are within normal practice," a military-diplomatic source told ITAR-TASS news agency.
Russia regularly makes its position on international issues known through unnamed sources quoted by state media, and all three main news agencies ran nearly identical reactions to the report, quoting a military-diplomatic source.
"The Russian navy systematically pinpoints the location of NATO submarines, including US Navy submarines, in direct proximity to the territorial waters of the Russian Federation," Interfax news agency quoted the source as saying.
"This however has never been a reason to make a lot of noise in the press," the source said, adding: "Consequently, any hysteria in such a case is inappropriate."
The US military's response indicated the episode did not appear to pose any immediate threat to the United States.
The submarines are not among the larger class of Russian submarines that can launch nuclear missiles, The Times reported.
During the Cold war, Moscow and Washington routinely sent submarines near each country's coastline to gather intelligence and track fleet movements.
The patrols come after Russia has staged symbolic shows of force in the region.
A flotilla of Russian warships conducted joint naval operations with Venezuela last December in the Caribbean Sea, close to US waters.
Russia's military recently suffered an embarrassment after another failed test of its intercontinental Bulava missile.
The missile, which can carry nuclear warheads, veered off course and blew up mid-flight after it was launched from Russia's Dmitri Donskoi submarine in the White Sea on July 16.
