TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday (June 27) said it had detected two Russian Navy frigates off the east coast of the country.
At 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the Facebook page Taiwan ADIZ reported that fishermen witnessed two Russian Steregushchiy class light frigates 26 nautical miles (48 km) off the coast of Yilan County's Dong'ao. It is rare for foreign naval vessels to come so close to Taiwan's 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone.
In a press release issued at 11:10 p.m., the MND said the two frigates had been monitored sailing from south to north through the "eastern waters" of Taiwan, before exiting Taiwan's "response area" (應變區) from the southeast of Yilan County's Su'ao Township.
The MND said it used joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance methods to assess the movements of the Russian naval vessels. In response, the MND scrambled combat patrol aircraft, dispatched naval vessels, and deployed land-based air defense missile systems.
On Tuesday evening, Russia's Interfax news agency reported that vessels from the Russian Pacific Fleet had entered southern parts of the Philippine Sea to perform tasks such as long-range sea passage. Interfax cited the Pacific Fleet's press service as saying the ships' crews would carry out maneuvers "with a demonstration of the naval presence" in the Asia-Pacific Region and "as part of strengthening partnerships."
