A news report Wednesday morning places the Russian spy ship Viktor Leonov about 30 miles south of the Navy submarine base in Groton, Connecticut. The state's congressional delegation blasted the Trump administration and called on the president to view Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia as a "threat" to national security.

The spy ship is technically in international waters, but U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, shared the Fox News story on his Twitter page and wrote, "Russia is acting like it has a permission slip to expand influence, test limits of reach. Questions are obvious: does it, and if so, why?" A U.S. official said the Russian spy ship was "loitering" in the water, Fox News reports. Fox News states that the purpose of the Russian spy ship is to "intercept communication and collect data" on U.S. Navy sonar capability but adds that the ship has missiles, too.



Russia is acting like it has a permission slip to expand influence, test limits of reach. Questions are obvious: does it, and if so, why? https://t.co/6Hsm7T2GO2

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 15, 2017 To sign up for Patch's free news alerts about your local community in Connecticut click here. Officials say they can't recall a Russian spy ship advancing this far up the Eastern seaboard. Pentagon officials told Fox News they expect the ship to head back to the Caribbean eventually, but no timetable was given. "We are aware there is a ship," Petty Officer Joshua Canup told Patch. Canup would only say that they were aware the ship is off the Atlantic coast.



The Department of Defense released a statement to 47 ABC that echoed Canup's, saying the department was aware of the ship's presence and the vessel had not entered U.S. territorial waters. The department further stated that it "[respects] freedom of navigation exercised by all nations beyond the territorial sea of a coastal state consistent with international law." Murphy later released an official statement Wednesday morning, stating a lack of surprise in regards to the spy ship incident.

"While this is not wholly unprecedented, it's part of a series of aggressive actions by Russia that threaten U.S. national security and the security of our allies," Murphy said in a release. "Just yesterday, news broke that Russia violated an Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Coupled with escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine and Russian jets buzzing a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Black Sea, Putin clearly thinks the Trump administration has given him a permission slip to flex his muscles."

Murphy further stated that President Trump and his administration must end their silence and immediately respond to what he and many consider threats to national security.



Political leaders and officials from all over the state also responded directly to the situation, offering statements over social media and through their own personal channels. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, also a Democrat from Connecticut, released his own statement to WNPR Wednesday afternoon via Twitter. The senator said the ship's presence "reflects a clear need to harden our defenses against electronic surveillance," and that he is personally monitoring the situation by remaining in close contact with the Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard.