This is as far as I can tell true. I recieved it from a friend of the family who lives in Omsk in Siberia and he obtained it from a local tabloid newspaper so I can’t post a link. Won’t bore u with too many details but the long and short of it is as follows:
Two days ago (August 8th) a Russian “Pubr” Class air cushioned assault craft of Russias Pacific Forces…think it was the ‘Saint Peter’…was re-routed while on a routine training mission to intercept a large surface contact entering Russian waters. Though lacking any serious firepower, the “Pubr” was the only warship in its vacinity.
At 2p.m. local time ( roughly 1hr after altering course) the Captain of the “Pubr” reported exchanging fire with a medium sized craft (possibly a Najin class frigate) flying North Korean colours. The “Pubr” had recieved minor damage to her hull from small arms fire but no crew had been injured.
The “Pubr” then returned fire with CIWS, saturating the target. The North Korean vessel was seen retreating with smoke from her hull and two bodies were retrieved from the water.
Moscow denies any knowledge of the incident at this time but is reported to be investigating the report.
Sorry can’t get any more details at this time, will chat with my contact to see if he will find out more such as location of vessels and why the North Koreans opened fire on a Russian ship in Russian waters. For now I assume it was West of Vladivostok.
This friend is military – Russian Army logistics – and has never told porkies before so it will be interesting to find out more about it. Only question I have is why hasn’t the BBC reported it?
By: alex - 12th August 2003 at 14:48
Just been told this. The ‘Saint Peter’ was on excercise with elements of the Pacific Forces planning to stage an amphibious assault on Ostrov Sakhalin which is East of Russia, North of Japan to simulate the “re-taking of the main island from a foreign power”…I assume this means Japan. She was carrying live ammo as part of the assault, the rockets would be used for shore bombardment prior to the “Pubr” beaching. The excercise invloved two other “Pubr”s, two mine warfare vessels (I assume these were “Natya” not the newer “Sonya” type), and two “Polnochony” class landing craft and two frigates of unknown type (will get back to u on that). Given the ‘Saint Peters’ speed and location she recieved the order to intercept the unknown.
The Captain of the ‘Saint Peter’ did it seems try to make contact with the Najin in order to find out what she was doing there but there was no reply.
Also, the Russian Navy has still not offically acknowledged the incident took place but has admitted that a foreign vessel did enter territorial waters on August 8th.
By: ageorge - 12th August 2003 at 14:44
Originally posted by Jonesy
Not heard of this anywhere else myself but the details sound authentic to a point.The big questions would be what sort of “routine training” mission the Zubr was deployed on that saw it out alone with live ordnance for its 30mm cannon embarked? Presumably it “just” being on a training mission would mean empty tubes or just training rounds carried for the RL’s as, if the vessel was close enough to engage with the 30mm’s, it was certainly close enough to use the rockets if the situation warranted opening fire!.
As to the NK Navy, for a service with quite limited resources and very limited operational capabilities they do seem to be able to cause a LOT or irritation in their neighbourhood. They’ve had live-fire “incidents” with the SK Navy, Japanese patrol units and now the Russians over the last couple of years. I would have thought they’d be well advised to tighten their act up a bit before someone over there loses patience with them!
Jonesy , I’ve been interested in the North Korean situation for a wee while , mainly because of their “cult” style leadership , is there anywhere I can read more about this ?? , any literature I can buy etc , thanks.
By: alex - 12th August 2003 at 14:19
Jonesy, just spoken to my contact. Yes it seems no one else – not in the UK at least – has heard of this but it does appear to be true.
Apparently the “Pubr” WAS the ‘Saint Peter’, she was loaded with rockets and her CIWS’s were fully armed…this seems to be standard practice with CIWS’s on all Russian warships regardless of type. Could it be that the ‘Saint Peter’ was just too close to the Najin, hence the Captain couldn’t target the Najin with rocket?
It turns out one of the Marines on board was injured, not seriously, when a bullet hit his left leg. Hope he recovers quickly.
As far as the Najin is concerned, it seems ur guess is as good as mine. My friend says it is not routine for North Korea to violate Russian territorial waters with fighting ships, but there have been an increased number of spy vessels posing as fishing boats entering the same area (???) which have been “seen off” by Border Guard An-72 “Coalers”.
One “recent” incursion involved a KPAAF fighter of unknown type approaching Russian airspace, the pilot fled when two MiG-29s were scrambled to intercept, this was in November ’02.
Don’t know what is going on there between Russia and North Korea but my friend says everything is normal though several Russia military officals have voiced there concern over the level of instability in Pyongyang.
Russia would wipe the floor with the KPA so I’m not too concerned.
😀 😀
By: Jonesy - 12th August 2003 at 13:06
Not heard of this anywhere else myself but the details sound authentic to a point.
The big questions would be what sort of “routine training” mission the Zubr was deployed on that saw it out alone with live ordnance for its 30mm cannon embarked? Presumably it “just” being on a training mission would mean empty tubes or just training rounds carried for the RL’s as, if the vessel was close enough to engage with the 30mm’s, it was certainly close enough to use the rockets if the situation warranted opening fire!.
As to the NK Navy, for a service with quite limited resources and very limited operational capabilities they do seem to be able to cause a LOT or irritation in their neighbourhood. They’ve had live-fire “incidents” with the SK Navy, Japanese patrol units and now the Russians over the last couple of years. I would have thought they’d be well advised to tighten their act up a bit before someone over there loses patience with them!
By: ageorge - 12th August 2003 at 11:47
Do the North Korean armed forces make a habit of this type of thing?? , I read somewhere that they use mini submarines to land spies in South Korea – is this true ?? . Doe’s NK have much of an air force ??
By: Arabella-Cox - 12th August 2003 at 02:44
Do you mean the Zubr hovercraft?
It obviously wasn’t feeling too threatened as it carries two 22 round launchers for 140mm rockets and could have used them against a large vessel. I have no details for warhead size but they can use Incendiary or Fragmentation rockets and have a range of 800m-45,000m.
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August 10, 2003 at 3:39 pm