NEUSTADT

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Patrol ship monitoring Russian reconaissance ship off Kiel

On June 20, 2024, the 'Neustadt' started monitoring the Russian reconnaissance ship "Vasily Tatishchev" off Kiel. The vessel, stationed in Kaliningrad, has followed the units of the NATO maneuver Baltops. Accompanied by a patrol boat from the Danish Navy and the Federal Police's ship, the surveillance ship sailed past Rügen and Rostock to Kiel on June 19. The next morning, the ship, equipped with highly sensitive antennas and radomes, moved into position on the Kiel-Baltic Sea route between Fehmarn and the Kiel lighthouse. No violations of the shipping regulations have been identified so far. The Danish Navy is also within sight of the Russian ship and was observing every movement on board. the Russian ship, which was positioned about halfway between the northwestern tip of Fehmarn and the southern tip of Langeland, circling there at a slow speed, on the afternoon. The reconnaissance ship of the Russian "Vishnya" class (Project 864), which was built in Poland from 1985 to 1988, was commissioned in 1988 and is one of two ships of this type in the Baltic Sea. The Russians do not have to take German data protection regulations into account, as the tapping measures are carried out from on board a naval ship. The status of naval ships is comparable to that of diplomatic missions. Only when the ship enters German or Danish territorial waters can the federal police or Danish Navy take action. In this case, the reconnaissance automatically becomes a case of espionage. The position of the Russian ship is in an area outside German and Danish territorial waters. There, the crew can carry out their mission for the Russian Navy and the secret service without being disturbed. According to various sources, there is room on board for over 100 soldiers and specialists. Since the start of the Baltops naval exercise, reconnaissance ships of the Russian Navy have been tracking the units of NATO states. No incidents or dangerous situations have been reported so far. In addition to the "Vasiliy Tatishchev", the reconnaissance ship "Zhigulevsk" was also on site.