Washington. June 30. INTERFAX - The American missile destroyer USS Ross, which is taking part in the Sea Breeze 2021 naval exercises, is not moving towards the Crimea and is located in the port of Odessa, the US Navy reported.
"Despite recent reports, the destroyer USS Ross was still 30 minutes ago and will be in the port of Odessa, Ukraine, in the foreseeable future, to support the Sea Breeze exercises," the US navy said in a statement posted on the official Twitter of the maneuvers.
Earlier, reports appeared on the Internet that the destroyer, capable of carrying up to 56 Tomahawk cruise missiles, allegedly began moving towards the Crimea.
A major naval exercise Sea Breeze 2021 with the participation of the troops of Ukraine and NATO countries started in the Black Sea on Monday.
They involve 32 warships, 40 aircraft, 5,000 military personnel and 18 special and diving operations detachments from 17 NATO member countries, as well as alliance partners
The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said earlier that the Russian military will closely monitor the preparation and conduct of the Sea Breeze exercises, "and, if necessary, respond adequately to the current situation in the interests of ensuring the military security of the Russian Federation."
