Coast Guard spots Chinese, Russian naval ships near Alaska island

Chinese and Russia Missile Cruisers and a destroyer, have been spotted in and around US waters near Alaska. This comes on the heels of the Nordstream pipeline suspected sabotage leak and congresses provisional vote on sending $12 billion more to Ukraine, which will infuriate Putin.

Chinese and Russian warships conducted a joint patrol near Alaska last week and prompted a Coast Guard cutter and C-130 transport to monitor the ship movements, Coast Guard officials have revealed.

The first Chinese ship spotted was the guided-missile cruiser Renhai and was located about 75 miles north of Kiska Island, at the far western end of the Aleutians in the Bering Sea. 

Two other Chinese naval vessels and four Russian navy ships also were part of the joint Chinese-Russian convoy that sailed in a single formation, according to a statement put out Monday by the Coast Guard. 

The joint naval operation is the latest sign of growing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, even as both face growing tensions with the U.S. and its allies. Both militaries took part in recent large-scale war games in the Russian Far East known as Vostok-2022, which included naval operations near Japan. 

The Renhai sailed within the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and as a result the Coast Guard carried out an operation called Operation Frontier Sentinel. The operation uses Coast Guard ships from the Seventeenth District to mobilize “when strategic competitors operate in and around U.S. waters,” the statement. 

“While the [Chinese-Russian] surface action group was temporary in nature, and the Kimball observed it disperse, the Kimball will continue to monitor activities in the U.S. EEZ to ensure the safety of U.S. vessels and international commerce in the area.” 

Red Dawn 2022