NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday mocked the Russian submarine Novorossiysk for being “lone and broken” and “limping home from patrol” after it surfaced off the coast of France last week.

The Novorossiysk is a diesel-electric attack submarine that belongs to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, a branch of the Russian navy that has largely been confined to their home ports due to threats from Ukrainian drones.

NATO reported the sighting, without naming the Novorossiysk, in an X post last week. A Russian opposition outlet claimed the submarine suffered a fuel leak while “on combat duty in the Mediterranean” on Sept. 27.

Rutte, speaking in Slovenia on Monday, said Russia has no more naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea before mocking the submarine.

“Now, in effect, there is hardly any Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean left. There’s a lone and broken Russian submarine limping home from patrol,” Rutte said, according to Euronews.

Russia had maintained a naval base in Syria – its only base in the Mediterranean – but its presence was reduced following the ouster of the Moscow-backed Assad regime in December 2024.

Moscow has largely withdrawn from the facility, though discussions have continued this year about maintaining a limited military presence under the new Syrian administration.

The Dutch navy escorted the submarine when it reached the North Sea, according to the Dutch Ministry of Defense.

Rutte then further mocked the submarine for “[hunting] for the nearest mechanic.”

“What a change from the 1984 Tom Clancy novel ‘The Hunt for Red October’… Today, it seems more like the hunt for the nearest mechanic,” Rutte added, referring to the Cold War novel about a Soviet nuclear submarine that was later adapted into a movie starring Sean Connery.

Russia state media TASS, citing comments from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, denied reports of the submarine’s malfunctions on Monday.

“Reports by some media outlets of an alleged malfunction that caused the Novorossiysk diesel-electric submarine to make an emergency surface off the coast of France are false,” the statement reads.

The statement says the Novorossiysk was conducting “a routine inter-fleet transfer” after unspecified missions in the Mediterranean, adding that it was complying with rules, transiting the English Channel by surfacing.

“According to the international rules of navigation, submarines are supposed to pass through the English Channel solely in surfaced position,” it adds.

Rutte, who assumed the post as NATO’s chief in June 2024, previously mocked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Fox News after Lavrov mocked the alliance’s plan to boost defense spending. Rutte said there was no point listening to Lavrov, adding: “I mean, he’s foreign minister of Russia… I think since the birth of Jesus Christ? And since then, nothing… useful came out of his mouth.”