The US Coast Guard stated that it had been "tracking" a Russian military vessel that was spotted approximately 15 nautical miles (about 28 km) south of Oahu, Hawaii, on October 29, as reported on November 13, writes UNN.
On October 29, the US Coast Guard detected and tracked a Russian military vessel operating near US territorial waters approximately 15 nautical miles south of Oahu.
Details
A US Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft and the cutter William Hart flew over and passed near the Russian Vishnya-class intelligence ship "Karelia." The US Coast Guard stated that it tracks the vessel in accordance with international law to ensure maritime security and support US national defense efforts.
Foreign military vessels are permitted to operate outside the 12-mile territorial limit of a state, but US Coast Guard officials stated that they regularly monitor such activity to protect US interests in the Pacific, notes Newsweek.
In a statement released Thursday evening, the US Coast Guard said that "working with partners and allies, our crews monitor and respond to foreign military vessel activity near our territorial waters to protect our maritime borders and safeguard our sovereign interests."
The Coast Guard's Ocean District works with the US Indo-Pacific Command and interagency partners to continuously monitor the activities of foreign military vessels operating near US territorial waters, including the waters of the US territories of Guam and American Samoa, to ensure homeland security and defense.
Addition
As Newsweek notes, tensions between Russia and the US have escalated in recent months, amid the failure of both countries to achieve a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine – a key campaign promise that US President Donald Trump pledged to fulfill shortly after his return to office, but which subsequently proved to be more difficult and complicated than he expected, the publication writes.
Then Trump, as the publication writes, "escalated the situation" by announcing his intention to seek a resumption of nuclear weapons testing in the US. The US President stated that he had instructed the Pentagon to resume nuclear tests, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that this promise was analogous to the promise of "other countries in the world."
European leaders have also faced provocation from Russia, accusing Moscow of violating their sovereignty by launching drones and balloons into NATO airspace, prompting some to invoke Article 4 of the NATO Charter, which calls for dialogue between member states on potential provocations, the publication indicates.