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Russia sees NATO’s growing activity in Black Sea region — top brass

The unscheduled drills of the United States and its NATO allies in the Black Sea region near the Russian borders are aggressive actions that create a threat to regional security, Russia’s Defense Ministry pointed out

MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. The United States and its NATO allies stepped up military activity near the Russian borders in the Black Sea region, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

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"The Defense Ministry of Russia has registered the growing military activity of the United States and its NATO allies in the Black Sea region," the ministry said, primarily pointing to the increased activity of the navy, air and naval reconnaissance and strategic aviation.

The unscheduled drills of the United States and its NATO allies in the Black Sea region near the Russian borders are aggressive actions that create a threat to regional security, the statement reads.

"This unscheduled exercise near our borders points to aggressive US actions absolutely unprovoked by Russia that create a threat to regional security and strategic stability," the ministry stressed.

In particular, the radars of the Russian Aerospace Force’s anti-aircraft missile troops detected and spotted four NATO reconnaissance aircraft in the past 24 hours. As the Russian Defense Ministry specified, the Russian radar systems spotted U-2S and RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and two P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes over the northwestern and central parts of the Black Sea.

A Su-30 fighter from quick reaction alert units of the Russian Aerospace Force was scrambled to intercept a UK Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula. The spy plane made a U-turn from the Russian border after it was intercepted by the Su-30 fighter, the statement says.

The Russian missile cruiser Moskva and the frigate Admiral Essen are tracking the deployments of US warships in the Black Sea. As Russia’s Defense Ministry stressed, "we view the military activity of the US and its allies in the Black Sea region as an effort to study the prospective theater of military operations in case of Ukraine’s preparations for a use-of-force scenario for settling the conflict in the southeast."

Currently, the US guided missile destroyer Porter and the command ship Mount Whitney continue their deployments to the western part of the Black Sea.

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Black Sea NATO Russian Defense Ministry

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