“Very unique” Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea; The Philippines operates a navy, military aircraft

The Philippine military sent a navy ship and air force jets to hide the Russian submarine, which passed through South China Sea on the west coast of the country last week, a security official said on Monday. One official said the navy was surprised to see the vessel because it was “a very unique submarine.”

The Russian submarine revealed itself while answering questions from the radio of the Philippine Navy, saying that it is on its way home to the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok after joining the Malaysian navy, Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general of the National Security Council. , he said.

The submarine, like other foreign vessels, has the right of “innocent passage” only in the country’s economic zone but still raised concerns when it was spotted on Thursday about 80 miles from the Philippine province of Mindoro, Malaya said.

Roy Vincent Trinidad, a spokesman for the navy in the South China Sea, said the incident was “not shocking.”

“But we were surprised because this is a unique submarine,” he told AFP.

The 74-meter (243-foot) long ship is armed with missiles with a range of 12,000 kilometers (7,450 miles), according to the Russian-run news agency TASS.

The submarine was spotted after it surfaced due to bad weather, Malaya said.

Philippine president says Russian submarine ‘worrying’

“All of that is very worrying,” said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. he told reporters when asked about the submarine. “Any incursion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our bases is very worrying. So, yes, it’s just another one.”

Marcos used the Philippine name to refer to the South China Sea, where his country and Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and other coastal states face an aggressive China, which says the busy waterway is perfect.

An alarming increase in territorial disputes, particularly between the Chinese and Philippine guards and coastguards, since last year has prompted the United States and other Western governments to closely monitor the important global trade route.

The Philippine coast guard said Monday that a Chinese military aircraft flew close to Filipino-owned fishing boats in a “dangerous form of harassment” last week in the Iroquois Reef, a disputed fishing area in the South China Sea.

Two Philippine Coast Guard vessels have been deployed to the area to protect Filipino fishermen, said Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela.

There was no immediate comment from Chinese officials.

As “60 Minutes” reported recently, tensions have escalated unduly in the waters off the west coast of the Philippines where an international court ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights. But China claims almost all of the South China Sea, one of the world’s most important waterways through which more than $3 billion in goods flow each year.

Meanwhile, China and Russia have expanded military and defense ties since Moscow ordered Ukrainian soldiers about three years ago, and joint exercises involving the Russian and Chinese militaries have increased recently. Last week, South Korea’s military said it was shooting down warplanes such as five Chinese and six Russian aircraft flew into its air defense.

In September, the U.S. military moved about 130 soldiers and rocket launchers to a deserted island in the Aleutian chain west of Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military aircraft and ships approaching American territory. Eight Russian military aircraft and four naval vessels, including two submarinesit had recently approached Alaska as Russia and China conducted joint military exercises.

AFP contributed to this report.