MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Eastern Military District is monitoring the French Navy’s reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome in the Sea of Japan, the Russian National Defense Control Center said on Monday.

"The Eastern Military District’s forces and equipment are monitoring the French Navy’s intelligence vessel Dupuy de Lome, which has been in the Sea of Japan and the Tatar Strait since July 5, 2021," the center said.

The French Navy’s large intelligence vessel Dupuy de Lome was last spotted in a joint reconnaissance operation with the US in the Black Sea in September 2020, when it was monitoring Russia’s Kavkaz-2020 strategic military exercise. According to openly available data, the Dupuy de Lome conducts reconnaissance of radio signals and electronic communications for the French Military Intelligence Directorate.