US Navy 'Monitoring' Russian Warships In Sight Of Miami

American and Canadian warships tracked a Russian submarine as it traveled along the Florida coast, the U.S. Navy has said.

A Russian naval flotilla that docked in Havana, Cuba, last week raised concerns over the Kremlin's intentions in the western hemisphere amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and concerns that it may escalate further afield.

During the visit, the missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine Kazan, the oil tanker Pashin and the salvage tug Nikolai Chiker passed very close to Florida shores on their way to Havana with open satellite tracking one vessel less than 30 miles off Key Largo ahead of military drills.

An unnamed U.S. official told the Miami Herald that Russia had split up the flotilla and sent its nuclear submarine north to the Atlantic, and the rest of its warships south, where they are likely to dock in Venezuela.

An official from U.S. Northern Command told the Miami Herald that the U.S. Navy "continues to closely monitor" the Russian vessel's movements.

U.S. and Canadian warships, including USS destroyer Truxtun and Coast Guard cutters, as well as the Canadian frigate HMCS Ville de Québec were positioned close to Miami shores, and later continued moving north, close to the Florida coast, according to satellite tracking website marinetraffic.com.

The Miami Herald reported that the U.S. military seemed to have used unmanned saildrones to track the fleet. Last week, the Pentagon said that the Russian ships posed no threat to the U.S..

Newsweek has contacted the Pentagon and the Russian defense ministry for comment.

"The threat of Russian ships in Cuban waters depends on what they are doing in Cuba," Michael Allen, a former senior director at the National Security Council (NSC) told Newsweek last Friday in emailed comments.

"A mere port call is not a threat—we do those all over the world. If there is cargo being delivered to Cuba, if they are installing even more in the way of spy or satellite dishes, that could be worrying about what they are setting up at our border," added Allen, managing director of Beacon Global Strategies.

Social media users, including open source intelligence experts, posted maps of the area which marked the position of the North American and Russian vessels.

"P-8s tracking the Russian naval group are using tactical call signs to hamper identifying which squadron(s) they belong to," posted The Intel Frog, referring to American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft."

"This is more evidence to support the conclusion that the US Navy is monitoring/shadowing the Russian group just off the coast of Florida, the post added.

"Russia's flotilla is within the sight of Miami. #Putin is sending a clear message to President #Biden," wrote X user Schulla. "A Russian flotilla cruising within sight of Miami. What's next? Russians buying property in Florida?" wrote another user.

Update 06/19/24, 5: a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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