Two Spanish warships monitor a Russian naval force in waters of national interest

• The frigate 'Santa María' and the high seas patrol vessel 'Serviola' have been involved in the Maritime Operational Command, under the operational control of the Operations Command, to monitor the transit of Russian vessels.

For a week, the two Naval vessels have watched over the transit through waters of national interest of a Russian group made up of the frigate 'Admiral Grigorovich', the corvettes 'Stoiky' and 'Sobrazitelny' of the 'Steregushchiy' class and the light supply ship 'Kama' of the 'Kaliningradneft' class.

First, the frigate 'Santa Maria' was in control of tracking in the Eastern Mediterranean until it entered Portuguese waters, and then the high seas patrol vessel 'Serviola' was in charge of monitoring in the Bay of Biscay.

For three days, the frigate 'Santa María' kept track of these Russian units in close conjunction with units from NATO's Permanent Naval Force No. 2 and the Portuguese navy. The purpose was to guarantee the continuous surveillance in their route from the Eastern Mediterranean to their final destinations in the Russian ports in the north, showing the national flag and the close coordination of the NATO allied nations in the current strategic setting provoked by the war in the Ukraine.

Afterwards, and following the sailing of the Russian naval group from Portugal's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the high seas patrol vessel 'Serviola' was in charge of further tracking and surveillance of the Russian vessels, taking over from the Portuguese frigate 'Corte Real' to continue monitoring them in the Cantabrian Sea until they left the waters of national interest.