Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment has been made of recent Russian submarine deployment into the Mediterranean and Baltic seas.
The Ministry of Defence monitors the deployments of Russian submarines and makes assessments based on their operational capability. A nuclear-powered submarine transited from its Northern Fleet base to St Petersburg where it will take part in Russia's Navy Day on 26th July, as part of a predicted annual commitment. A further Russian submarine transited from its Black Sea base port to Tartus, Syria, as part of their routine presence operations in the eastern Mediterranean. Russia continues to be a significant state-based threat to the UK; monitoring and responding to this threat is a core priority for the Ministry of Defence.