President Vladimir Putin has vowed to retaliate against the West for providing Ukraine with long-term missiles and a £40 billion loan using frozen Russian assets.

On June 5, the state-of-the-art Yasen-class submarine Kazan was detected by an RAF Poseidon P8 anti-submarine aircraft, which deployed sonar buoys to track subsurface activity.

The submarine was monitored as it traveled along the west coast of Ireland to Scotland, nearing Britain’s nuclear naval base at Faslane.

Military commanders were concerned that the 13,800-tonne vessel might be probing for weaknesses on NATO’s perimeter.

This information was reported to the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, with both the Prime Minister and Defence Secretary being informed, the Express has reported.

Kazan was expected to proceed to Venezuela before heading to Guyana, where the Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Trent had been deployed to support Guyana against Venezuela’s aggressive actions.

Putin’s reaction was triggered by the US provision of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets to Ukraine and the significant loan.

Julianne Smith, the US NATO Ambassador, indicated that Washington might reconsider its policy on allowing ATACMS to target mainland Russia, emphasizing the need to adapt to Ukraine’s evolving requirements.

Written by B.C. Begley