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French fishing trawler came ‘face to face’ with Russian sub

Crew of the 25-metre Belenos trawler were shocked to see the Kilo-class vessel break the surface of the water just yards away from their boat as they were fishing near the Channel Islands.

La rédaction de Mediapart

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A French fishing trawler came face to face with a Russian attack submarine when it surfaced in the English Channel off the coast of Brittany, reports The Telegraph.

The crew of the 25 metre Belenos trawler were shocked to see the Kilo-class vessel break the surface of the water just metres away from their boat as they were fishing near the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey.

One image, taken by a crew member, appears to show a figure emerging from the front of the conning tower, the raised structure that acts as the command centre.

Reports of the Russian craft’s presence came as a French admiral on Wednesday revealed that a shadow fleet of “around 900” ghost ships run by Russia, North Korea and Iran, ply the waves, with “a dozen” passing through the Channel every day.

Read more of this report from The Telegraph.