Login

 

Forgot password?
submarines shipbuilding Black Sea Fleet exercise Pacific Fleet Russian Navy Northern Fleet strategy cooperation Ukraine visits Russia piracy missiles trials Sevastopol history Sevmash presence contracts drills Baltic Fleet industry incident anti-piracy shipyards Gulf of Aden frigate training Somalia India developments reforms opinion Borei procurements policy Russia - India aircraft carrier Crimea arms exports USA St. Petersburg France tests financing Bulava Yury Dolgoruky US Navy Serdiukov cruise Mediterranean Zvezdochka NATO innovations United Shipbuilding Corporation Indian Navy Medvedev Arctic agreements commission Admiralteyskie Verfi Admiral Gorshkov Vladivostok Mistral accident hijacking corvettes overhaul Admiral Kuznetsov anniversary Russia - France Vysotsky Rosoboronexport ceremony event Yantar Severomorsk negotiations defense order conflict aircraft China deployment naval aviation investigations Black Sea Putin Varyag coast guard Novorossiysk Vikramaditya landing craft crime Far East marines Severnaya Verf meeting scandals memorials traditions Syria statistics Japan escort South Korea Yasen Neustrashimy tenders Marshal Shaposhnikov Admiral Chabanenko convoys Ukrainian Navy problems Severodvinsk Chirkov reinforcement tension firings tragedy technology Baltic Sea search and rescue Almaz Moskva frontier service Caspian Flotilla provocation hostages upgrade court Dmitry Donskoy keel laying rumors Turkey World War II death shipwreck Admiral Panteleyev Atalanta Petr Veliky helicopters Kilo class Kaliningrad Admiral Vinogradov Norway Rubin delivery launching patrols
Search
Our friends russian navy weapons world sailing ships
 
Tell a friend Print version

Russia says number of NATO ships in Black Sea increasing

Russia says number of NATO ships in Black Sea increasing 27.08.2008 Source: en.rian.ru

A Russian naval official reported an increase in NATO warships near the Georgian coast on Wednesday.

"According to our information, NATO ships are in the Black Sea and their numbers are increasing," said Vice Adm. Sergei Menyailo, commander of the Novorossiisk naval base.

He said some of the ships were at the port of Batumi in southwest Georgia. "We are monitoring the situation," he added.

Russia is concerned that NATO is continuing to build up its forces in the Black Sea. The military alliance announced its decision to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia after the conclusion of hostilities between Tbilisi and Moscow over breakaway South Ossetia on August 12. Moscow recognized both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgia republic, on Tuesday, despite warnings by Western leaders not to do so.

Moscow has questioned why the U.S. military is needed to deliver aid to Georgia. According to a Russian military intelligence source, the NATO warships that have entered the Black Sea are carrying over 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles between them.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said on Wednesday that a warship that was due to deliver aid to the Georgian port of Poti, where Russian troops have been carrying out patrols, would dock at Batumi. He did not explain the reason for the decision.

Menyailo said that the Moskva missile cruiser, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, was approaching the port of Sukhumi, Abkhazia's capital.

According to Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, the cruiser should have returned to its base in Sevastopol on Tuesday night.

Menyailo also said that the Russian naval group patrolling the waters off Abkhazia was sufficient to maintain peace and stability in the region. "We are not planning to increase the number of our ships there, but everything depends on regional stability,' Menyailo said.

He said the ships differed in kind, ranging from landing vessels to missile ships and submarine chasers.

"We are controlling territorial waters and the adjacent area, ensuring shipping safety, and preventing the smuggling of arms and military vehicles," the official said.

Russia's General Staff said on Tuesday there were ten NATO ships in the Black Sea - three U.S. warships, the Polish frigate General Pulaski, the German frigate FGS Lubeck, and the Spanish navy ship Admiral Juan de Borbon, as well as four Turkish vessels.

Back to the list