Russia has plans to patrol the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean with long-range bombers, according to CNN. The patrols would also include the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, bringing the aircraft close to U.S. maritime borders.
The patrols are Russia's response to the international community's disapproval, Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday, according to CNN. The defense minister also said it plans to increase security in Crimea, the area it seized from Ukraine earlier this year.
"In many respects, this is connected with the situation in Ukraine, with fomentation of anti-Russian moods on the part of NATO and reinforcement of foreign military presence next to our border," Shoigu said, according to CNN.
"Under these conditions, the formation of full-fledged and self-sufficient forces on the Crimean peninsula is a priority task."
"In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico," said Shoigu, according to CNN. "Due to that, as part of the drills, Russian long-range bombers will conduct flights along Russian borders and over the Arctic Ocean."
The news of the air patrols was heard the same day NATO commander Gen. Phillip Breedlove said Russia is sending armaments, tanks, air defense systems and troops into Ukraine, according to CNN. The day before the announcement, Breedlove said Russia had moved "forces that are capable of being nuclear" into Crimea.
Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov accused Breedlove of spreading "alarmist anti-Russian allegations," according to CNN.
Russian aircraft used to patrol U.S. territorial water borders during the Cold War, but the patrols were scaled back after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, according to CNN.
