The Ropucha class landing ship of the Russian Navy Kondopoga passes through the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 17, 2021. REUTERS / Yoruk Isik
On Saturday, two Russian warships transited the Bosphorus into the Black Sea and 15 smaller ships completed a transfer to the sea, while Moscow strengthened its naval presence at a time of strained relations with the West and Ukraine.
The reinforcement coincides with a huge accumulation of Russian troops near Ukraine, which Moscow calls a temporary defensive exercise, and follows an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces.
Russia’s relations with Washington, which canceled the deployment of two of its own warships in the Black Sea last week after fierce Russian protests, are at a post-Cold War low.
Moscow on Friday expelled ten U.S. diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of the same number of Russian diplomats from the United States for alleged malicious activity.
Russia has also temporarily restricted the movement of foreign warships “and other state ships” near Crimea, which it annexed to Ukraine in 2014, an action condemned by both Kiev and Washington.
Two Russian Ropucha-class landing craft in Russia’s northern fleet, capable of transporting tanks and delivering armor and troops during coastal assaults, transited the Bosphorus on Saturday, a Reuters reporter saw in Istanbul.
More Russian naval reinforcements are expected in the form of two more landing craft, this time from Russia’s Baltic fleet, imminently transiting the Bosphorus.
On Saturday, the RIA news agency also reported that 15 smaller ships of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla have completed their transfer to the Black Sea as part of an exercise.
In another sign of rising tensions in the region, a ship carrying trucks and logistical equipment for NATO forces in Romania transited the Bosphorus on Friday evening, the same Reuters reporter saw.
In St. Petersburg, the security service of the Russian FSB briefly detained a Ukrainian diplomat, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Saturday. L1N2MA04O
The Interfax news agency previously quoted the FSB as saying that Oleksandr Sosoniuk was arrested when he tried to obtain classified information from Russian law enforcement databases during a meeting with a Russian citizen.
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