US Coast Guard says Russian naval vessels crossed into buffer zone off Alaska

The U.S. Coast Guard says it tracked a group of Russian naval vessels as they entered U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska in an apparent attempt to avoid sea ice, an action allowed under international rules and customs.

JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that it tracked a group of Russian naval vessels as they entered U.S. waters off the coast of Alaska, apparently in an attempt to avoid sea ice, a move allowed under international rules and customs.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew witnessed the Russian military vessels crossing the maritime boundary and venturing 30 miles (48 kilometers) into an area beyond U.S. territorial waters known as the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Russian vessels included two submarines, a frigate and a tugboat, the Coast Guard said in a news release. The encounter occurred nearly 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Point Hope.

Rear Admiral Megan Dean said the Coast Guard actively patrols the maritime boundaries of the Bering Sea, Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea to “protect U.S. sovereign interests and fisheries resources, and promote maritime norms.”