Ryan Chan
APortuguese "submarine-hunting" plane detected a Russian submarine transiting northern European waters last week, NATO said, as the alliance continued to monitor its neighbor's powerful navy amid Moscow's prolonged invasion of Ukraine.
NATO's Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), the central command of all maritime forces in the alliance, published images on Wednesday showing the Russian boat traveling on the surface of the Baltic Sea, where it was spotted by a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft of the Portuguese armed forces.
The Baltic Sea is enclosed by longtime NATO members to the south and southeast, and by new allies Finland and Sweden to the north. It is the only gateway to the North Sea and wider North Atlantic Ocean for the Russian navy's Baltic Fleet headquartered in Kaliningrad, an exclave between EU and NATO members Poland, to the south, and Lithuania, to the north and east.
President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago helped NATO expand its security umbrella on Russia's western flank. The accession of Finland and Sweden gave the Baltic Sea a new nickname: "NATO Lake."
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