NUKE BLAST RISK

SWEDEN: A nuclear-armed Soviet submarine that ran aground in a Swedish fjord 40 years ago had been sent to spy on the country’s naval defences and was nearly blown up by a sea mine, an investigation has suggested.

The incident drove Sweden to the brink of abandoning neutrality and declaring war on Russia.

The submarine carried torpedoes with 15-kiloton warheads. Retired Swedish naval officers said the Swedish military had been prepared to blow up the submarine if the Soviets tried to recover it, risking a blast on the scale of Hiroshima.