In a highly unusual event, a US attack submarine was painted on the wall of a local house in the Russian town of Gadzhievo, home to one of Russia’s strongest submarine bases.
The incident made a lot of noise on the Internet. In a social network Publish about the painting, city officials exclaim excitedly – “Look, what a beauty.” The house in the center of the city represents a submarine in surface position surrounded by wild waters.
The painting quickly caught the attention of locals. The Gadzhievo wall depicts an American submarine, most likely the Los Angeles class.
The US nuclear-powered fast attack submarine can carry a large number of torpedoes, Tomahawks and Harpoon missiles and frequently visits the Barents Sea, where it hunts Russian submarines.
Gadzhievo is home to most of the country’s new Borei-class strategic submarines and the Yasen general-purpose attack submarines.
A resident of the town VK Facebook page argues that someone must take responsibility for the action.
“How awful! Why paint an enemy ship?” reads the comment. “We have our own submarines, and they are much more beautiful than our enemies,” adds the person.
“Shame on the municipal administration!” another user writes.
Meanwhile, city officials say the painting was chosen in a poll in which citizens were asked to participate. According to the administration, the American submarine received the most votes.
On another local VK pagemany people are also calling on the FSB to intervene. “I suggest that the representatives of the prosecutor’s office and the FSB address this issue before the whole country sees this disgraceful act,” wrote one user.
Another person calls for the artist and local authorities to be punished for “discrediting the Russian armed forces” under the new regulations. Following the current assault on Ukraine, the new regulations were enacted, resulting in heavy penalties and the arrest of anti-war protesters.
One person comments on the photo, calling it “a mockery of every submariner’s soul.” “This submarine is not only foreign; it belongs to the enemy. It has been the main adversary of our submarine forces for the past 30 years,” he adds. “What kind of feelings are our submariners going to parade through the local streets next to this photo? »
Gadzhievo is about 50 kilometers north of Murmansk. It is part of the closed military municipality of Aleksandrovsk. The city has about 13,000 inhabitants.
Russian Naval Forces
Meanwhile, dozens of Russian ships took part in military maneuvers in the strategic Baltic Sea on Thursday. According at the Russian Defense Ministry, Baltic Fleet ships would “perform training tasks for the defense of sea lanes and fleet bases.”
The navy maneuvers come as tensions between Moscow and NATO have escalated following efforts by Sweden and Finland to join the US-led NATO alliance.
Russia would become the only non-NATO country on the Baltic Sea if Sweden and Finland are approved to join, something Turkey currently opposes.
In a show of support for Finland and Sweden joining NATO, US Chief of Staff General Mark Milley arrived in Stockholm aboard the USS Kearsage, the world’s largest American warship to have ever docked in Stockholm.
His visit coincided with NATO’s annual naval maneuvers in the Baltic Sea known as “Baltops 22”, which are due to last until June 17.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, five Russian Navy ships were detected in the Pacific Ocean off the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense. The ships’ movements are most likely part of a massive Russian-led naval exercise.
On Friday, a Maritime Self-Defense Force ship confirmed that the Russian vessels, which included a destroyer and a frigate, were about 170 kilometers southeast of the Nemuro Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido, a said the ministry.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a large Pacific practice involving more than 40 ships and around 20 aircraft would take place at the end of this week.
Moscow also reportedly issued shipping warnings as part of the exercise, citing the possibility of missile launches and other activity in waters near the Kuril Islands, as well as waters off Japan’s Sanriku region.
