As US allies rapidly demonstrate [7] their willingness to abandon Washington on key issues like China’s attempt to move the world away from US-dominated multinational institutions that have held sway for decades, and with NATO simultaneously building [8] a “line of troops” along the Russian border, Moscow seems keen on proving yet again that Russia’s belligerence knob “goes to 11.” As we noted over the weekend, Moscow took the rhetoric up a notch recently when the Kremlin threatened (literally) to blow Danish ships out the water with nuclear missiles, prompting a NATO spokeswoman to dryly note that “such statements do not inspire confidence or contribute to predictability, peace or stability.” Here’s more from Reuters [9]:
Russia threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Danish warships if Denmark joins NATO's missile defense system, in comments Copenhagen called unacceptable and NATO said would not contribute to peace.
Denmark said in August it would contribute radar capacity on some of its warships to the missile shield, which the Western alliance says is designed to protect members from missile launches from countries like Iran.
Moscow opposes the system, arguing that it could reduce the effectiveness of its own nuclear arsenal, leading to a new Cold War-style arms race…
In an interview in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, said he did not think Danes fully understood the
consequences of joining the program.
"If that happens, Danish warships will be targets for Russian nuclear missiles," Vanin told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Russian nuclear subs have apparently been busy cruising around the UK and may have inadvertently become ensnared on one Angus Macleod’s fishing nets. Here’s more from the DailyMail [10]:
A fisherman told last night about the one that got away – a suspected Russian submarine which became entangled in his nets after it strayed inside British waters in the North Sea.
Angus Macleod, 46, was fishing for haddock and skate when he became convinced that a hostile vessel was caught up below his boat Aquarius.
The submarine attempted to free itself (ZH: they’re often unwieldy when caught), taking the 65ft vessel and his two-ton catch with it.
‘Had the submarine headed for deeper waters we might have sunk with it, but I don’t want to dwell on that.
'We were eventually cut loose when the 150ft-long dog rope, which attaches the nets to the ship, wrapped itself around Aquarius’s propeller and got ripped apart. We were then able to sail back to port.’
...and a bit more color from Live Leak [11]:
Angus Macleod, who has fished Scottish waters for more than 30 years, told how crewmembers became alarmed when their nets began to “overtake” his 62-foot trawler, Aquarius.
Speaking to the Sunday Express last night, he said: “We were midway through a trip when the boat started to slow down by around two-thirds of a knot, which can happen when the pots start to collect.
“We started to haul the nets in, and suddenly there was an external force pulling our nets ahead of the boat with some considerable force. This is something we’ve never experienced before. We always have to be ahead of the nets to keep our propeller clear.
"We caught up with them, and we continued hauling, but the nets ran forward again. The starboard net continued to lead out aft. We had to do this several times, and the winches which were hauling in the nets were beginning to strain.”
Mr. Macleod, 46, added: “At the time we just went through what needed to be done to get out of that situation. We had to keep our propeller clear – that’s our main propulsion. But afterwards we sat down as a crew and we discussed what we’d seen. There is little doubt in our minds that this was caused by a submarine.”
“Between the five of us, we’ve had 110 years fishing experience, and none of us have ever seen anything like it. It was a really uncomfortable position to be in. Afterwards, we realised this was the closest we’d ever come to not coming home at all.”
* * *
It wasn’t immediately clear what Macleod and his crew intended to do with the sub had they managed to corral it and haul it up on deck.
