In the context of the constant tensions arising from the Russo-Ukrainian war, patrol boats from the Spanish Navy monitored and tracked the activities of ships from the Russian Navy as they transited towards the Eastern Mediterranean. This information was released by the Spanish Defense Staff, which provided further details of these actions.
Between March 21st and 26th, the presence of a fleet of support vessels from the Russian Navy was detected as they transited towards the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean. These actions took place within jurisdictional waters located northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish Operations Command coordinated and executed an operation to monitor and track this fleet of Russian ships. According to the Spanish Defense Staff, the first Spanish vessel to locate the Russian Navy units was the offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Atalaya, which identified the vessels as the amphibious assault ships ‘Ivan Green,’ ‘Aleksander Otrakovsky’ (Ropucha class), and ‘Kola’ tanker during the early hours of March 21st.
Subsequently, as the Spanish patrol vessel approached Portuguese jurisdictional waters, it was replaced by the Portuguese Navy frigate Bartolomeu Dias. Upon completion of its task, the Atalaya patrol vessel returned to its base at the Arsenal de Ferrol.
However, this wasn´t the only encounter between Spanish and Russian vessels, as in the following days, between March 23rd and 26th, as part of the Joint Force Core NFC-1, the Vigía patrol vessel relieved the Portuguese frigate to monitor the activity of the Russian fleet when it entered the waters of the Gulf of Cadiz.
You may also like: The growing cooperation between Russia and Iran in electronic warfare raises alarms in Israel
