Since Wednesday, the Navy has been monitoring the passage of the Russian ship “RFS Mercuriy” off the coast of mainland Portugal, that branch of the Armed Forces said in a statement today.
“Since August 16, the NRP ‘Figueira da Foz’ and the NRP ‘Dragão’ have accompanied and monitored the Russian Federation ship ‘RFS Mercuriy’, of the Steregushchiy class, which was sailing in transit off the Portuguese mainland coast,” the Navy said in a statement sent to the press.
The Navy recalled that “the monitoring of Russian naval units stems from the defense of national interests and the exercise of state authority at sea” and “also contributes to Portugal’s commitment to the Alliance’s collective effort to maintain maritime situational awareness”.
The Portuguese Navy has recently accompanied several Russian ships on their passage off the Portuguese coast.
Last week, for example, he accompanied the passage of the Russian ship “Kildin”.
The most controversial case occurred in March of this year, when 13 soldiers from the ship assigned to the Madeira Maritime Zone “refused to carry out” a mission to accompany a Russian ship north of Porto Santo, claiming “one of the engines had broken down”.
