Russia spy ship located near U.S. submarine base in Connecticut
The Russian spy ship patrolling the East Coast was located near a U.S. submarine base in Connecticut Wednesday, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.
The ship, known as an AGI (Auxiliary, General Intelligence), was located 30 miles from Groton, Connecticut, Martin reports.
Groton is the home of Naval Submarine Base New London, which the Navy describes as the “Home of the Submarine Force.”
According to the base’s website, 6,500 military personnel are stationed there and 1,000 civilian employees work there.
The ship had made a port call in Cuba and has been working its way up the East Coast. It’s expected to turn around and head south toward Cuba.
The presence of foreign vessels and aircraft near U.S. territory is nothing new. In 2015, there was a flap about a Russian spy ship hanging out in a spot where trans-Atlantic cables are laid.
The ship’s voyage comes as U.S. officials say Russia secretly deployed a cruise missile in December that is specifically banned by a treaty signed in the final years of the Cold War. The missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Also, just five days ago, an incident similar to last year’s buzzing by Russian jets of a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea happened again, this time in the Black Sea.
First, a Russian patrol plane made a low pass close to the USS Porter, then two Russian jet fighters were followed a short time later by a third. U.S. officials called the fly-bys “unsafe and unprofessional.”
On Thursday, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart in Azerbaijan, CBS Radio News correspondent Cami McCormick reports.
A statement from Dunford’s office released on Wednesday said the meeting will be to “discuss a variety of issues including the current state of U.S.-Russian military relations.” The U.S. suspended military relations with Russia after its annexation of Crimea in Ukraine in 2014.
A spokeswoman told McCormick the meeting has been planned for months.