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Naval operations of US warships, NATO spy planes moved to northwestern Black Sea

The Russian Defense Ministry continues to monitor the United States’ military activity

MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. The US warships and NATO reconnaissance aircraft have moved their activity to northwestern Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

"The Russian Defense Ministry continues to monitor the United States’ military activity of an aggressive nature in the Black Sea region. Actions of the US naval group and NATO air forces’ recognizance sorties have moved and are being conducted in the northwestern part of the Black Sea," the statement says.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a U-2S strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Forces conducted a reconnaissance flight from Ukrainian airspace along the Russian border.

"A U-2S strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the US Air Force, which had taken off from Akrotiri airbase on the island of Cyprus, conducted a reconnaissance flight from airspace of Ukraine and the northwestern part of the Black Sea," the statement says.

Moreover, the Russian Defense Ministry said that "radar systems of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Black Sea Fleet have spotted and tracked four flights of NATO members’ reconnaissance aircraft in the airspace over the Black Sea region in the past 24 hours."

Joint naval exercise

The ministry pointed out that the USS Porter guided-missile destroyer and the USS Mount Whitney command ship had conducted joint naval drills with Turkish, Romanian and Ukrainian ships.

"The USS Porter guided-missile destroyer, the USS Mount Whitney command and control ship conducted a series of joint drills with ships of Turkey, Romania and Ukraine in international waters off Romania and called at the Port of Constanta in Romania," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

On October 30, the USS Porter guided-missile destroyer had entered the Black Sea for multinational drills led by the United States European Command. The unscheduled exercise involves the USS Mount Whitney command ship, support vessels and warships of other NATO nations, as well as aircraft.

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