Russian Warship Moves Closer To US With Missiles And Spy Equipment Aboard

The Russian spy ship that violated a long-held treaty with the U.S. has reportedly moved to just off the coast of Connecticut, Fox News reported Wednesday. The vessel had already cruised past Delaware Tuesday.

A U.S. official told Fox News the ship was “loitering.”

The Russian Vishnya-class Viktor Leonov ship, which was armed with missiles as well as intelligence gathering equipment, was first roughly 70 miles off the coast of Delaware Tuesday but has since moved north and was closer to the shore. Though the international waters official line was 12 miles, the ship’s movement appeared to violate a 1987 treaty between the U.S. and Russia.

Russia also secretly deployed a new cruise missile to the Kapustin Yar, which is to the south near Volgograd, The New York Times reported Tuesday. That action was similarly in violation of the 30-year old treaty that bans both countries from using intermediate-range missiles stationed on land.

Reports after the ship was first spotted indicated it first stopped in Cuba and went north and was expected to now turn back towards Cuba.

It was expected to go as far as New London, Connecticut, which is located just inside the Block Island Sound and north of the eastern tip of New York’s Long Island, CBS News reported.

A Russian ship scurrying around international waters near the U.S. was not a new occurrence, CBS reported. It last happened in 2015.

However, given President Donald Trump’s new administration and its alleged ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin, the ship’s presence was a curious one. The administration has been under fire for when and for how long it knew about recently resigned National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s call to a Russian ambassador regarding sanctions placed on the federation by former President Barack Obama.

Flynn resigned Monday, but the administration was now facing questions about how much Trump’s campaign was speaking with Russian intelligence officials last year.