Hours After Nat’l Security Adviser Quits, Russian Spy Ship Spotted Off US Coast

Claire Bernish

A Russian spy ship has reportedly been spotted by officials just 70 miles of the U.S. East Coast for the first time since President Donald Trump took office — and just hours after National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned from his position less than one month on the job amid controversy over a phone call with the Russian ambassador.
Two unnamed U.S. officials from an undivulged department allegedly told Fox News the Russian ship was seen 70 miles of the coast of Delaware, heading north at 10 knots — well outside United States territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles from the coast.
“It’s not a huge concern, but we are keeping our eyes on it,” one official said.



According to Fox News,
“The ship, the SSV-175 Viktor Leonov, last sailed near the U.S. in April 2015, an official said. The ship is capable of intercepting communications or signals, known as SIGINT, as well as measuring U.S. Navy sonar capability, a separate official said.
“The Russian spy ship is also armed with surface-to-air missiles.”
While Russia is perfectly within its rights to sail in international waters, the proximity of the ship to the U.S. after Flynn’s resignation would raise eyebrows of politicians who, for months, have championed an anti-Russia propaganda campaign.
“In his resignation letter, which the White House emailed to reporters,” the New York Times reports, “Mr. Flynn said he had held numerous calls with foreign officials during the transition. ‘Unfortunately, because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador,’ he wrote. ‘I have sincerely apologized to the president and the vice president, and they have accepted my apology.’”
And, as Zero Hedge reports,
“The last time a Russian spy ship was spotted in relative proximity to the US, was in September 2015, when shortly after five Chinese naval ships were observed in the Bering Sea, U.S. military satellites identified a Russian spy ship – capable of cutting undersea communications cables and other sensors – off the coast of Kings Bay, Ga., home to the U.S. Navy’s East Coast ballistic missile submarine fleet. Needless to say, the US navy – and Pentagon – were quite displeased: after all it is only Russia that is allowed to be surrounded by NATO forces.”
That wasn’t the only time this particular vessel was spotted near the U.S., as the Daily Mail notes,