MOSCOW, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - Sweden’s search for an alleged foreign submarine is entering a “new phase” and will continue for as long as it is needed, the Swedish Armed Forces said Wednesday.
“The Armed Forces can now say that the operation enters a new phase. The tactical commander has decided to relocate his units. Some of the vessels that have been to sea have been moved to land. Crews will remain on these vessels and will be on high alert,” the Swedish Armed Forces’ spokesperson Erik Lagersten told reporters.
“The intelligence operation continues with other units. There is likely ongoing foreign underwater activity in the Stockholm archipelago,” Lagersten stated.
Ground and air units, as well as "a number of naval units" will remain in the search area, and the flight ban will be upheld, he added. The spokesperson refrained from passing comment on whether the Swedish forces were also looking for foreign activity on land.
Lagersten stressed that the operation is not being scaled down and that it will continue for “as long as it is needed”.
“This is about patience, patience, patience,” said Per Ohrstedt, commander of the HMS Visby corvette, one of the main ships that have taken part in the ongoing operation off the Swedish coast. “We have a crew of 40 that has worked in shifts. All are focused and have done a good job,” he added.
According to the Swedish forces, there have been no new sightings of the suspected submarine during the last day.
On Tuesday, the Swedish Armed Forces informed that two more sightings of the "suspicious object" in the Stockholm archipelago had been made, bringing the total number of sightings to five.
Swedish forces first launched a major operation off the coast of Stockholm on Friday after receiving information, reportedly from a civilian, about the presence of an unknown underwater object in the region, suspected to be a foreign submarine.
