Russia warns of new COLD WAR as Putin sends record numbers of submarines to British coast

RUSSIA has sent a record number of submarines to the coasts of Scotland and Scandinavia as a former US commander warned of a second Cold War.

Vladimir Putin bolstered his military forces by deploying another submarine fleet – meaning Russia has its highest number of attack vessels in the area for 20 years.

It comes as retired admiral and former supreme allied commander of NATO James Stavridis sent a chilling warning that another Cold War could be on its way.

He said: "We are not quite back in a Cold War, but I sure can see one from where we are standing."

Admiral Mark Ferguson, the US Navy's top commander in Europe, said that patrols had increased by almost 50 per cent in the past year, citing a Russian Navy official.

Viktor Chirkov said in April last year: "For the period from January 2014 to March 2015 the intensity of patrols by submarines has risen by almost 50 per cent as compares to 2013."