Russia was still building up its military presence in the Black Sea over the weekend when two more warships and 15 smaller vessels pulled into the waterway amid heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow.
The two Russian ships that can transport tanks and armored vehicles, as well as troops for coastal attack, traveled through Bosphorus Street in Turkey on Saturday, Reuters reported.
More naval reinforcements – including landing craft from the Baltic fleet – are expected to arrive at the Black Sea in the coming days to support the thousands of troops and armored vehicles already in position near Russia’s eastern border with Ukraine.
The government in Biden last Thursday sent two US warships to the Black Sea after the Kremlin warned: “stay away for your own good” for the deployment.
The turn came shortly before the White House slammed sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2020 presidential election and for the SolarWinds cap that hacked the computers of hundreds of government agencies and businesses in the private sector.
A senior administration official said the government did not want the already tense situation in the region to ‘get out of control’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to the sanctions by expelling ten US diplomats and threatened to retaliate as part of the alleged showdown between the two superpowers.
Last week, Putin also cut off access to Kerch Strait to foreign warships this fall.
The strait connects Russia and Crimea, which Putin illegally annexed in 2014, resulting in a round of sanctions by the US and its European allies.
Since then, thousands have been killed by fighting between Ukrainian troops and separatist troops backed by Russia.