The US-led BALTOPS exercises are set to take place in Russia’s backyard. NATO has demonstrably beefed up its presence in the Baltic region despite Russia’s concerns. Apart from the Spring Storm drills in Estonia, with 10,000 troops from over a dozen countries involved, naval exercises called Baltic Protector have kicked off.
The US Navy’s USS Mount Whitney has passed through the Danish strait Great Belt and sailed into the Baltic Sea, according to the AIS naval monitoring resource. A day earlier, it became known that Canada’s HMCS St. John’s had sailed into the region, the Russian website Gazeta.ru reports.