A Russian destroyer is currently anchored off the German Baltic island of Fehmarn, a spokesman for the German Defence Ministry confirmed on Tuesday.
The vessel is believed to be part of Russian efforts to monitor its shadow fleet used to circumvent Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, the spokesman.
A NATO spokesman said allies were monitoring the movement of Russian warships in the Baltic Sea, including the vessels attached to the NATO task force Standing Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) led by the German frigate Saxony.
The French frigate Auvergne has since arrived in the region to shadow the Russian destroyer Severomorsk near Fehmarn, according to local daily Kieler Nachrichten.
Officials in Berlin appeared unsurprised by the presence of Russian warships near the German coast.
"Russian warships are constantly being spotted in the Fehmarn area of the Baltic Sea, the Skagerrak and the Gulf of Finland," the spokesman said, adding that this development was considered, in part, to be a response to NATO operations such as Baltic Sentry.
NATO allies launched Baltic Sentry 2025 as part of efforts to heighten vigilance on the alliance's northern and eastern flanks, particularly in light of a surge in damage to data cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which are suspected to be the result of sabotage.
Moscow again blamed NATO for tensions in the Baltic Sea.
"As far as security in the Baltic Sea region is concerned, it is primarily the activities of the navies of NATO member states, and not the Russian Federation, that have contributed to the escalation of tensions in recent months,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by state news agency TASS.
