USS Mount Whitney at the port of Tallinn, Estonia, on June 5.
A U.S. naval commander said Russia has sent in two of its intelligence-gathering ships to silently track and watch the 40-plus vessels from 17 different nations, including the United States, taking part in a major Baltic Sea training exercise, the BALTOPS 2016.
But coupled with Russia’s recent announcement to hold a “snap” training mission of its own, concerns are this shadowing could lead to more aggression by the nation, such as seen in 2014 with its annexation of Crimea.
This is the 44th year that BALTOPS has gone forth, and it includes an estimated 6,000 sailors, airmen and Marines from mostly NATO-allied countries. Finland and Sweden, non-NATO nations, are participating this year as well, Fox News reported.
Russia, meanwhile, is keeping a close watch on the exercise.
“What we have seen is shadowing by two Russian intelligence vessels since we left port in Tallinn, Estonia,” on June 5, said U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James Foggo, who’s leading the training, Fox News reported.
Foggo specified the two Russian ships have been “well behaved,” but have refused to communicate with the U.S. Navy, even when they traveled within one mile of America’s vessels, he said.
America’s NATO partners have indicated Russia normally keeps an eye on the annual training mission, of which it is not an invited participant. And in fact, Foggo said that years ago, while serving as a junior officer on a submarine, the Russians used to have a vessel waiting to track U.S. water movements when his team would leave port in Charleston, South Carolina.
But this year’s on-site oversight may be a bit more concerning, given the cooled U.S.-Russia relations over the past couple years and the somewhat sudden announcement by Russian leaders to conduct its own large-scale military exercise in the coming weeks – an announcement that came absent any details.
“We actually put our schedule for the [BALTOPS 2016] exercise on the Web,” Foggo said, Fox News reportd. “Frankly, it would nice to see some of that transparency on the Russians’ part.”
Foggo also said Russia has a tendency to kick off large-scale exercises in the region with a “snap” announcement, and such sudden decisions “can make people nervous.” One such exercise actually turned into an invasion: In 2014, Russia stormed into Ukraine and annexed Crimea, all while claiming its military was simply conducting a “snap” military exercise, as Fox News pointed.
On this latest Russian “snap” announcement, Foggo said, “we’re wondering where that’s going to be.”
from PropagandaGuard https://propagandaguard.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/russia-sends-in-silent-spy-ships-to-shadow-u-s-navy/
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