Why Is A Russian Spy Ship Lurking Near The US Coast?

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Why is a Russian spy ship in waters off Groton, CT? Aside from Groton’s lovely if small restaurant scene, its primary attraction is a submarine base, making Russia’s presence, especially in light of what’s unfolding in Washington right now, more than a little unnerving. And this might be a case of Russian attempting to beat its chest in the wake of what looks to be the worst possible time for the Trump administration.

Russia has in the last few days very much wanted us to know it has a military. First, it test-fired a cruise missile that potentially violates a Cold War treaty, and it seems to have returned to its habit of “buzzing” the Navy and US allies. A fairly common annoyance in the Baltic, the USS Porter had jets fly dangerously close to it in the Black Sea last week.

It’s worth remembering that playing fast and loose with the airspace of other countries has gotten Russian pilots killed. Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in its airspace in 2015, killing one pilot. That event is ultimately winding its way through the Turkish courts, but it demonstrated that Putin has, so far, little bite to back up his bark. That said, crossing into US airspace, or taking action interpreted as an attack on US troops, is likely to get a far more hostile reaction, which both sides may want to consider carefully.

(via CBS News)

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