Russian Navy Flotilla's Red Sea Exercises Raise Monitoring Concerns for U.S.-Israeli Naval Drills
A Russian Pacific Fleet flotilla, consisting of the Udaloy Class frigate RFS Marshal Shaposhnikov and the Boris Chilikin Class oiler Boris Butoma, has been conducting exercises in the Red Sea. This movement comes after the flotilla's previous exercises with Myanmar's Navy in mid-November. The flotilla's presence in the Red Sea coincides with the start of the joint Israeli-United States naval exercise, Intrinsic Defender, which began on December 7. Intrinsic Defender is an annual exercise involving high-performance navies, typically held in the Red Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Russian flotilla's positioning suggests a potential interest in monitoring these exercises, which are of particular interest to Russian naval intelligence. The third ship of the flotilla, the Gremyashchiy Class corvette RFS Gremyashchiy, has not rejoined the group, as it is making separate port visits to Chittagong and Colombo. 
