MOSCOW, November 12. /TASS/. Russia views the US military activity in the Black Sea region as a security threat, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"We view the US aggressive military activity in the Black Sea region as a threat to regional security and strategic stability," the statement reads.
As Russia’s Defense Ministry stressed, "the true goal of the US actions unprovoked by Russia are to study the theater of military operations in case of the use-of-force scenario in the southeast."
The NATO countries that are holding unscheduled drills in the Black Sea have intensified air reconnaissance near the Russian borders, the ministry said.
"The intensity of NATO air reconnaissance near the borders of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea continues growing," the statement says.
In particular, Russian radars spotted and tracked six NATO reconnaissance planes over the Black Sea in the past 24 hours, the ministry said.
Specifically, in the central and northwestern parts of the Black Sea, the Russian radar systems detected air reconnaissance flights by three US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes from the US airbase on Sicily (Italy), a French Air Force C-160G Gabriel reconnaissance aircraft from the airbase in Romania, a US Air Force RC-135 strategic reconnaissance plane from the airbase on the Island of Crete (Greece) and also a US Air Force U-2S strategic reconnaissance aircraft from the Cyprus airbase, the statement says.
In addition, the US Navy guided missile destroyer Porter, the command ship Mount Whitney and the tanker John Lenthall are deployed in the southwestern part of the Black Sea after completing their transit from the Georgian port of Batumi and continue moving westward, the ministry said.
"The Black Sea Fleet’s ships: the missile cruiser Moskva, the frigate Admiral Essen and the patrol vessel Pavel Derzhavin are closely watching the US warships in the Black Sea," Russia’s Defense Ministry said.