Russian Navy shadows U.S. guided-missile destroyer in Black Sea

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) arrived in Batumi, Georgia, as part of the United States’ continued Black Sea presence and support to regional partners.

While steaming to the Georgian coast, USS Porter was shadowed by the Russian warships and planes, according to the TASS news agency.

In a statement to TASS, Russia’s National Defense Management Center told said the Special equipment of the Russian Southern Military District has begun tracking the US Navy’s USS Porter, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, that entered the Black Sea.

The military agency clarified that the destroyer sailed into the Black Sea on June 17. “Forces and equipment of the Southern Military District are tracking the ship to timely react to possible incidents in the Black Sea,” the center noted.

Earlier on Wednesday, the press service of the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet that the destroyer is part of announced that the ship started moving to the Black Sea for drills with NATO allies and partners in the region. This is the third time the USS Porter has entered the Black Sea in 2020.

The ship last sailed into the Black Sea in April. In early May, the ship entered the Barents Sea accompanied by the Roosevelt and the Donald Cook destroyers.

The U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet also reported that USS Porter (DDG 78) arrived in Batumi for a scheduled port. U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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