Moscow. January 23. INTERFAX-The Russian Black Sea Fleet has begun tracking the USS Donald Cook, which entered the Black Sea on Saturday, the Russian National Defense Control Center said.
"The forces and means of the Black Sea Fleet have begun tracking the actions of the US Navy's USS Donald Cook, which entered the Black Sea on January 23, 2021," the center said in a statement.
According to the Montreux Convention, the time spent by ships of non-Black Sea countries in the Black Sea is limited to 21 days.
The "Donald Cook" entered the Black Sea at the end of November 2020.
This destroyer can carry up to 56 Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1.6 thousand km.
The" Donald Cook", equipped with the Aegis missile defense system, along with the US Navy destroyers "Carney", "Ross" and "Porter", is permanently stationed in Europe at the Spanish military base in Rota. These ships, together with the Aegis missile defense ground bases in Poland and Romania, are part of the European Phased Adaptive Missile Defense system program.
On December 2, 2020, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO is increasing its presence in the Black Sea region and increasing support for Georgia and Ukraine.
Russia has significantly strengthened its military grouping in the Black Sea region in recent years.
In recent years, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has received six diesel-electric submarines, several frigates and small missile ships equipped with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles.
The Russian military deployed four divisions of the S-400 Triumph long-range air defense systems (Almaz-Antey Concern) in Crimea, as well as several divisions of the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and gun systems.