Russian Spy Ship Spotted Off Atlantic Coast, Possibly Near N.J.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it's aware that the Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov has been sailing close to the Atlantic Coast in recent days - and possibly near New Jersey - as revealed in a bombshell Fox News report.

Reports say the ship was spotted about about 30 miles south of the Navy submarine base in Groton, Connecticut, after it was spotted 70 miles off the coast of Delaware, and then presumably sailed passed New Jersey and New York as it moved north.

"We are aware there is a ship," Petty Officer Joshua Canup told Patch. Canup would only say that they were aware the ship is off the Atlantic coast.

The spy ship is technically in international waters, but U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, shared the Fox News story on his Twitter page and wrote, “Russia is acting like it has a permission slip to expand influence, test limits of reach. Questions are obvious: does it, and if so, why?”

A U.S. officials said the Russian spy ship was “loitering” in the water, Fox News reports.

Fox News states that the purpose of the Russian spy ship is to “intercept communication and collect data” on U.S. Navy sonar capability but adds that the ship does have missiles too.

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Officials say they can’t ever recall a Russian spy ship advancing this far up the eastern seaboard. Pentagon officials told Fox News that they expect the ship to head back to the Caribbean eventually, but no timetable was given.

These developments are among a number of hits the Trump administration has taken over the past couple days concerning ties to Russia.

These include Michael Flynn stepping down as national security adviser on Monday. Flynn’s departure had followed revelations that he misled White House officials about communications concerning sanctions he had with a Russian official in December.

A day later, a New York Times report surfaced which suggested that multiple campaign associates were in contact with Russian intelligence officials for a year prior to the election. CNN then published an article later that night relaying similar findings.

Phone records and intercepted calls had documented the communications, according to the report. The report notes that they have not found evidence that campaign aides, or Trump himself, collaborated with the hacks of the Democratic National Committee or of Hillary Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta's emails.

Read the full Fox News report here.

Patch file photo