Three more Russian ships pass through Portugal’s territorial waters

Lisbon: The Portuguese Navy on Sunday ended its monitoring at sea of three Russian ships that have been flagged for “allegedly carrying material used in the Russian war effort” and which crossed the mainland’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

“The Portuguese Navy, through the ships NRP Setúbal, NRP Viana do Castelo and NRP Dragão, ended today the monitoring at sea of three Russian ships as they passed through the continent’s Exclusive Economic Zone,” read a press release from the Navy.

The monitoring of the cargo ships Ursa Major and Sparta IV and the tanker Yaz began on Friday.

It was through the Maritime Operations Center that the Navy ensures permanent surveillance of areas of national sovereignty or jurisdiction.

The Portuguese institution added that it will continue to monitor every day of the year “the passage of ships with a view to international security” and the “promotion and protection of Portugal’s interests at and through the sea”.

The war triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has plunged Europe into what is considered the worst security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945) – and tensions have been ratcheting up exponentially in recent days.

Last year, warnings were that Russian ships were ‘spying’ on undersea cabling – of which Portugal has a veritable labyrinth, seeing yet another cable system ‘anchored’ in Cascais this week. ND