A Russian spy ship was spotted 30 miles off the eastern coast of the United States near a U.S. submarine base in Connecticut, officials told Fox News.
Groton is the home of Naval Submarine Base New London, which the U.S. Navy describes as the “Home of the Submarine Force.”
According to the official, the SSV-175 Viktor Leonov was “loitering” in international waters just 30 miles south of Groton, Connecticut.
The ship, which is capable of intercepting communications, is also armed with surface-to-air missiles.
The ship had previously made a port call in Cuba and has since been traveling up the eastern coast of the United States. It is expected to return south towards Cuba.
The same vessel was spotted 70 miles off the coast of Delaware on Tuesday.
The Russian spy ships venture up the east coast comes at a time where there have been several recent Russian provocations.
On Friday, four Russian jets buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea by coming within a few hundred yards of the USS Porter. Radio calls from the USS Porter were ignored. U.S. officials called the actions “unsafe and unprofessional.”
U.S. officials said that Russia also secretly deployed a cruise missile in December, violating a treaty dating back to the Cold War.
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