Taiwan detects two Russian warships off its coast

TAIPEI: Taiwan sighted two Russian frigates sailing off its eastern coast on Tuesday (Jun 28) and deployed surveillance ships and aircraft to monitor their movements, the island’s Ministry of National Defence said. 

The Russian warships were “detected sailing from south to north in the waters off our eastern coast” as of 11pm local time, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Taiwan’s military monitored their movements and “dispatched aircraft, ships and (activated) shore-based missile systems to keep watch”, it added.

The ministry did not say how far the warships were from Taiwan’s coast.

Self-ruled Taiwan reports a near-daily presence of Chinese vessels near its waters. China claims the island as its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary.