Three weeks ago, the Russian fleet in the Adriatic Sea was one step away from colliding with NATO ships, with the incident taking place in Italian waters, along the coasts in front of Abruzzo and Puglia. 

More specifically, on July 22, the Russian fleet blocked the entry and exit route to the Adriatic in a bold move, made to prevent the movement of "Truman" American aircraft carrier. 

The unprecedented event was discovered by the prestigious Italian "La Repubblicca", which reconstructed the movements of Russian ships and counter-movements of NATO, during several days of very high tension in the open sea. 

According to the scheme reconstructed by "La Repubblicca", which quotes confirmations from official sources, the "Ammiraglio Tributs" Russian ship has sailed to the Adriatic to reach the coast of Abruzzo. 

Further south, in Salento, the cruiser "Varyag" is stationed while the spy ship "Vasily Tatishchev" was searching for radio communications in the area. 

"La Republicca's" article below:

It is a secret challenge, and sometimes very reckless. The Russian and NATO fleets face each other in the Mediterranean, often being very close to each other. Only 3 weeks ago, Moscow ships carried out a very daring operation. They were positioned to block the Adriatic Sea, with the aim of preventing the movement of the American aircraft carrier "Truman". 

A very strategic move, as this is the sea closest to Ukraine's battlefields, and from which missiles and aircraft could theoretically intervene faster on the front line. 

On July 22, the battleship "Ammiraglio Tributes" crossed the Otranto Channel and moved further north. He moved from the Gargano and settled in front of the coast of Abruzzo, overcrowded with people due to summer vacations. But he was not alone. It was followed by the Russian cruiser "Varyag", with its batteries of long-range missiles. 

The latter stood in front of the Italian port city of Salento, keeping watch over the key passageway to the Adriatic. Along with it was a third warship, the "Vasily Tatishchev", specialized in espionage, and equipped with instruments to intercept radio communications and sensor pulses. His task was to study NATO's "electronic responses" to this provocative incursion. 

For the first time in the Adriatic since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Russian fleet had never entered the Adriatic Sea. Several times the Moscow ships had come to closely monitor the exercises of the Atlantic Alliance, reaching as far as the waters of Calabria, in the south of Italy. 

But they had never dared to carry out a "blocking maneuver", which aimed to limit the movements of the American aircraft carrier "Truman", the main means of deployment of NATO in the Mediterranean Sea, which in recent months often travels along a route from Sicily to the Adriatic and vice versa. 

The Russian Navy's operation triggered the start of a long silent duel in which NATO commanders vowed to show the Russians they would not relinquish control of the passage between the Ionian and Adriatic seas. Thus, in the last days of July, the cruiser "Varyag" was less than 100 kilometers away from the American counterpart "Forrest Sherman". 

They were practically on both sides of the cape of Santa Maria di Leuca. The Russians on the Adriatic side, and the Americans on the Ionian side. A little further south, the "Truman" aircraft carrier, with nearly 60 F18 Hornet fighter-bombers on board, and with a US Navy escort. 

Among them was a NATO team - the Second Standing Naval Group - of American, Italian, Spanish, Turkish and Greek warships and frigates, which on July 25 gathered in the Ionian Sea to form a square around the aircraft carrier " Truman". 

Russian operation between Puglia and Sicily 

The Russian operation was revealed by The Ship Yard Naval Consultancy, which analyzes information from commercial satellites, and was confirmed to La Repubblica by official sources. But the missions of some trackers - described by the Itamilradar portal - had shown that something was happening between Sicily and Pulja. 

Especially on July 31, one of the largest spy drones that the US has, GlobalHaëk, which departs daily from Sigonella to go to the Black Sea and monitor the Ukrainian conflict, patrolled a part of the Ionian Sea for hours, continuing to fly over a specific area. The same one where the patrols of the Italian P72 planes were concentrated for 3 consecutive days. 

Cruiser "Varyag" 

It is not known what is the current position of the Russian ships, and whether their activity was also accompanied by a submarine. However, 3 days ago, Italian reconnaissance planes have resumed patrolling the waters between Calabria and Greece more intensively, focusing on several areas.

As it is suspected that at least one of the Russian Navy vessels is still in the area. The cruiser "Varyag" is the twin of "Moskva", which was sunk by the Ukrainians on April 14. She is one of the most powerful ships in Putin's fleet, with 16 long-range P-1000 Vulcan missiles on board, designed to destroy US aircraft carriers. 

According to Russian propaganda, they do this by acting together "like a pack of wolves attacking its prey". They can strike from 500 kilometers away, traveling at 3 times the speed of sound. Compared to the "Moskva", the "Varyag" has a more advanced anti-aircraft defense and radars. 

Admiral Tributes 

Meanwhile, the Ammiraglio Tributs is an excellent anti-submarine warfare ship, also equipped with missiles designed to shoot down US cruise missiles. The two ships built in the last years of the Soviet Union, and which have been modernized several times, are a permanent pair in the Pacific fleet. 

They left in December last year from their base in Vladivostok, the port opposite Japan, crossed the oceans and landed in the Mediterranean, to strengthen defensive positions in view of the invasion of Ukraine. Since that time they have formed the "tip of the attack" of the Russian that moves from Syria to the West to follow the Atlantic Alliance, alternating with the other team formed by the cruiser "Slava", a battleship, two frigates and a corvette. 

Finally, at least 2 Kilo-class submarines, which do not make noise and are armed with Kalibr missiles, are conducting expeditions near the Bosphorus. These duels are now limited to maneuvers, more or less aggressive, and exchanges of radar pulses to show the opponent's striking ability. 

War games, which are becoming more frequent and more dangerous as the months pass. A few days ago, a strategic document from the Kremlin reiterated the importance of the sea routes of the Eastern Mediterranean for the "national interest" of Russia. This aim prompts Putin's admirals to launch a new Cold War, with ever-higher levels of tension seen more and more frequently in Italian waters.