Russia tells Sweden that hunting for its submarines is ‘a mindless waste of Swedish taxpayer money’

Over the weekend Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad confirmed to the press that the apparent sighting of a Russian submarine on October 31 last year was in fact just a civilian working boat, after close examination of pictures taken by a former naval officer.

But, he also said, the fact that Russia was sailing submarines around Swedish waters last year remains completely true: “The assessment that Swedish territory was violated in October 2014 remains correct in its entirety.”

In an extraordinary response, the Russian foreign ministry issued a statement decrying “anti-Russian hysteria and propaganda” in Sweden’s response to the apparent sighting.

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