Russian Patrol Ship Monitoring USS Fort McHenry's Actions in Black Sea – MoD

08:15 GMT, 7 January 2019

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Patrol ship Pytlivy of Russia's Black Sea Fleet is monitoring actions of USS Fort McHenry that entered the Black Sea on January 6, the Russian Defence Ministry said on 7 January.

Sputnik

"Patrol ship Pytlivy of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is performing a complex of activities to control the actions of amphibious transport dock (LSD) USS Fort McHenry", the ministry said in a statement.

The statement noted that the ship had been in the Black Sea since 9:00 p.m. Moscow time (18:00 GMT), January 6.

"As of 9:30 a.m. (6:30 GMT), the ship entered the Romanian port of Constanta", the ministry added.

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Commander of the US 6th Fleet Vice Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti said that the vessel's transit to the Black Sea shows collective commitment to the Black Sea security.

In December, US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker said that Washington should consider the possibility of increasing its presence in the Black Sea.

On 25 November, Ukraine's Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. Russia seized the Ukrainian vessels and detained 24 crew members after they failed to respond to a demand to stop. After the incident, a criminal case on illegal border crossing was opened in Russia.