Russian military ship spotted by Coast Guard near Alaskan coast

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol around Alaska’s Aleutian Islands came across a Russian ship in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said.

The crew on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley on Monday detected the vessel about 30 miles southeast of the Amukta Pass, the Coast Guard said in a Friday statement. A helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak also spotted the vessel.

The vessel was “transiting in international waters but still inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles from the U.S. shoreline, according to the statement.

The Coast Guard vessel did not communicate with the Russian ship but followed it as it moved east, the statement said.

“We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska,” Cmdr. Steven Baldovsky, commanding officer of the Alex Haley, said in the statement.

There have been several similar incidents in recent months. On July 6, the Coast Guard while on patrol spotted four Chinese military ships north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands in international waters, but also within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said.

And on July 24, the U.S. military intercepted two Russian bombers and two Chinese bombers flying together in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone. The bombers were intercepted by U.S. and Canadian fighter jets and were not seen as a threat, according to North American Aerospace Defense Command. 

However, a U.S. defense official told CBS News this was the first time that Russian and Chinese aircraft had jointly entered the Alaska ADIZ. It marked a new show of expanding military cooperation that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time raises concerns.

While the Alaska ADIZ is considered part of international airspace, it is defined as an area where sovereign U.S. airspace ends but “that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security,” according to NORAD. 

In February, the U.S. detected four Russian warplanes flying in the Alaska ADIZ, as was another Russian military aircraft in May 2023.

And in February 2023, Russian warplanes were intercepted there twice in one week. And that same month, a Chinese spy balloon was detected near Alaska before eventually making its way across the continental U.S. and being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.