Putin Dispatches Russian Vessels to Shadow U.S. Warships During Flare-Up

LINK: https://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-dispatches-russian-vessels-to-shadow-u-s-warships-during-flare-up-11637404202

MLA: 

"Putin Dispatches Russian Vessels To Shadow U.S. Warships During Flare-Up ". WSJ, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-dispatches-russian-vessels-to-shadow-u-s-warships-during-flare-up-11637404202. Accessed 20 Nov 2021.

In the Black Sea, the USS Porter entered its final hours of transit -accompanied by allied ships and USS Mount Whitney- carrying tomahawk cruise missiles. The Russian military had been shadowing the ship for days and now sent a helicopter as they were in Putin's "nation's crosshairs". This however is not the beginning of escalating tensions as Russia had recently deployed ground forces along Ukraine's borders, raising fears of an invasion being closely watched by Washington and the Biden administration. Besides invading forces, Russia conducted a missile test spewing debris into space which poses a danger for space travelers at the International Space Station. 

Within the past couple of years, Russia has been accused several times of engaging in reckless operations such as the invasion of Crimea in 2014, and shadowing the U.S. ships in the black sea several times, however, has been doing so in compliance with international law. 

Could this be a case of intimidation, or is Russia planning something bigger? Russia seems to be treading carefully and so far has not used any physical force such as weapons or threats, but it still is concerning just how close they are monitoring the black sea and more specifically, the U.S. ships. 

Currently, U.S. officials are concerned with the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which will carry Russian natural gas across the Baltic Sea to Germany, which bypasses a transmission system through Ukraine which, for Russia, makes it easier to invade.