MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian Navy is tracking a French warship that entered the Black Sea late Tuesday and is heading north, a source in the Russian Navy Main Staff told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
The La Fayette stealth frigate, capable of carrying guided missiles, was moving north along the Black Sea west coast, according to the source.
"As of now there is nothing out of the ordinary in her movements. The previous group of NATO ships recently staged exercises in the same region, near the ports of Varna [Bulgaria] and Constanta [Romania]," the source said.
The source added that the Russian Navy was paying extra attention to the La Fayette frigate because the ship was moving toward Ukraine territorial waters in the north of the sea.
Last week, the NATO Allied Maritime Command said the bloc's ships had completed joint drills with Romanian, Turkish and Bulgarian Navies in the Black Sea.
Moscow has repeatedly criticized NATO for stirring up regional tensions by deploying its military close to Russian borders.
