Russian warships appear off Taiwan’s east coast
Two Russian navy ships were seen just 26 nautical miles from Taiwan’s east coast yesterday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed last night.
Fisherman reported seeing the two Russian frigates while working east of Dong’ao in Yilan County yesterday.
It is quite rare for Russian ships to appear in the area, especially so close to Taiwan’s 24-mile contiguous zone.
The Ministry of National Defense confirmed the reports, saying the the ships sailed north to south and left Taiwan’s response area at around 11:00 pm. The MND said that it had dispatched aircraft and ships, and deployed shore-mounted missile systems to monitor the ships.
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ROC authorities cannot afford to underestimate the intentions of Russian vessels drawing as close as 26 miles from shore. That’s not a tremendous distance for a mini-sub, or small fishing boat to travel, dropping off a couple of illegals. What better place to export dual-use products from, indirectly of course. Fun fact: FSB, GRU, and SVR do recruit Russian-born Chinese that are fluent in Mandarin &/or other dialects.