SHIPWRECK hunters have captured footage they believe
appears to show the wreckage of a Russian submarine off the coast of Sweden.
The 20m long vessel was discovered by the Ocean X
Team, who claim that "cyrillic letters on the hull indicate that it is
Russian".
It is unclear how old the submarine is or how long it
has been lying in Swedish territorial waters for.
While one of the men who took part in the discovery
said it looked modern, another expert told the local Expressen newspaper he
believed it was a Russian submarine that sank in 1916.
Ocean X said on its website: "The submarine is
completely intact, has no visible damage to the hull, and the hatches are
closed.
"Therefore, we do fear that the crew would not
have been able to save themselves when the sub went down."
The footage of the submarine will now be examined by
the Swedish military, who has yet to comment on whether they also believe the
vessel is Russian.
Swedish Armed Forces spokesman Anders Kallin said:
"We choose not to comment on it before we have seen more material.
"We will continue the analysis together with the
company in the coming days."
Another spokesman said there was no rush to
investigate "because the wreck was not going anywhere".
However, Ocean X is planning to dive into the waters
again to examine the shipwreck more closely.
The discovery comes less than a year after the navy
sparked the largest military mobilisation since the Cold War when they detected
an intruder - believed to be a Russian submarine - in Swedish waters.
The hunt, which took place near the capital city of
Stokholm, proved unsuccessful.
Tensions between the West and Russia are currently at
their highest level in nearly two decades, as Moscow leader Vladimir Putin
continues his aggression against Ukraine.
As well as concerns surrounding Russian submarines in
foreign waters, the country's 'Bear' bombers have made frequent incursions into
overseas airspace.
This is not the first time that false alarm bells have
been rung over foreign objects detected in Swedish territory.
One of the most notable incidents was in 1995, when
the Swedish military believed it had detected intruders in its territorial
waters.
However, officials were left red-faced when they
discovered the underwater sounds were made by minks, a small weasel-like
animal.
By Levi Winchester