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Russia to send 'world’s largest nuclear sub' on voyage along Norwegian coast

The Local Norway
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Russia to send 'world’s largest nuclear sub' on voyage along Norwegian coast
A Delta 3 submarine - not the same class as the one mentioned in this article - off Murmansk Harbour. File photo: Henning Lillegård/NTB scanpix

The world’s largest nuclear submarine may sail along almost the entire Norwegian coast this summer in the build-up to a Russian navy parade.

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The 172-metre long Dmitri Donskoy is scheduled to participate in a Russian navy parade off St. Petersburg in July, says a report by The Independent Barents Observer.

According to the report, the sub will sail out of its base on coast of the White Sea, along the coast of Norway, and the into the Skagerrak and Baltic seas before arriving in St. Petersburg on the 30th July.

The voyage will be the first time a submarine of this kind has sailed into the Baltic Sea.

It will be necessary for the craft to sail at surface level under Denmark’s Great Belt Bridge, claims the report, since the Swedish Maritime Administration states that waters under the Øresund channel separating Denmark and Sweden are too shallow.

Originally built by the Soviet Union, the submarine is the only one of its class of Typhoon nuclear submarines still in active service.

The craft is powered by two nuclear reactors and can carry 20 missiles and up to 200 nuclear warheads, according to the report.

“I’m concerned when a nearly 40-years old nuclear submarine with two relatively large reactors on board will sail such a voyage along the coast of Norway and into the Baltic Sea. Nordic authorities must make sure the exact time of the voyage is announced so preparedness can be put in place. It is also necessary to get assurance that there are no nuclear weapons on board,” nuclear physicist Nils Bøhmer of environmental NGO The Bellona Foundation told Independent Barents Observer.

The Russian Navy is expected to be given approval for the plan by President Vladimir Putin in around one month, says the report.

READ ALSO: Russia criticizes US troop plans in Norway

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