Portugal’s Navy monitored the simultaneous passage of three Russian ships through territorial waters over the weekend. The three boats – the Yaz, the General Skobelev, and the Kola all appeared in the country’s economic and exclusive zone last Friday. The first two heading in the direction of the Mediterranean, the Kola – the main mission of which is to enable Russian operations to be sustained at sea – sailing in the opposite direction. For this latest mission of accompaniment, the Navy’s Maritime Operations Centre activated four ships: the Bartolomeu Dias, the Setúbal, the Oríon and the Cassiopeia. The operation was also supported by the Portuguese Air Force, which deplloyed a P3-C maritime patrol aircraft. Russian ship activity through Portuguese territorial waters has increased exponentially since the start of the full scale invasion of Ukraine.
