The Spanish Navy has detected a Russian spy ship near Spain three times since April

The passage of Russian ships near Spain is common, as the Strait of Gibraltar is an international maritime transit zone.

A frigate of the Spanish Navy watches over a Russian frigate off the coast of Galicia
Spain deploys an important Aeronaval Group after the passage of a Russian frigate

However, there are certain Russian vessels whose continued proximity to the Spanish coast should begin to generate some concern. On April 29, the Spanish Defense Staff (EMAD) reported that the Spanish Navy was tracking several Russian vessels near the Spanish coast.

One such vessel was the "Viktor Leonov" CCB-175 (SSB-175 in Latin alphabet), a Russian spy ship of the Vishnya class (above), launched on October 5, 1988 in Poland (then still under a communist dictatorship) and which until 2004 bore the name "Odograf". This Russian vessel is armed with two AK-630 30 mm CIWS turrets and two 9K34 Strela-3 surface-to-air missile launchers, designated SA-N-8 by NATO. It is 91.5 meters long, 14.6 meters wide and carries 146 crew members. The "Viktor Leonov" is a vessel specialized in signals intelligence (SIGINT) and communications intelligence (COMINT), that is, it intercepts and processes all types of communications. CCB-175 belongs to the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet, headquartered in Severomorsk, Murmansk.

The Spanish Navy's Maritime Action Vessel "Audaz" P-45 (above) shadowed the Russian spy ship "as it transited the Mediterranean coast before entering the Gulf of Lion" off the southern coast of France. However, the Spanish Navy's Maritime Action Vessel (EMAD) did not provide details on the vessel's nature or the date of the shadowing. On Twitter, @jr_amon_ceuta posted two photos of the CCB-175 on April 14 passing the Strait of Gibraltar and two more of the Audaz spy vessel shadowing the Russian vessel in the same area that same day. A few days before being spotted off southern Spain, the "Viktor Leonov" had been spotted sailing near Ireland, where it was followed by the Irish Naval Service patrol vessel LÉ Samuel Beckett.

On May 21, EMAD again reported the tracking of several Russian vessels, this time by the P-71 Patrol Vessel "Serviola". In total, eight vessels were tracked. EMAD published this photo of the "Viktor Leonov" without citing it in the text of its statement.

Significantly, this image clearly shows that this Russian spy ship has a "Z" on its funnel, the symbol used by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and which has become popular in the invading country as a sign of support for the aggression against its neighboring country.

On May 8, Navy Lookout noted that the AGI "Viktor Leonov" briefly shadowed the British carrier strike group (CSG) HMS Prince of Wales "shortly after it entered the Mediterranean in early May." Alongside the photo above of the British destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33) with the Russian spy ship in the background, the British outlet noted:

The Leonov had refuelled in Algeria before meeting the CSG in the western Mediterranean. HMS Dauntless is pictured above in company with the AGI on 2nd May. Intelligence gathering attempts by adversary navies are quite normal, and it would be surprising if there were not interactions between the CSG and Russian assets during the deployment. The Viktor Leonov was built in 1988 when the Soviet Union deployed a large fleet of AGIs, routinely trailing NATO warships, watching and attempting to gather signals and electronic intelligence.

Finally, today the EMAD has again reported another Spanish Navy tracking of Russian vessels near the Spanish coast, this time by the P-22 patrol vessesl "Tagomago". The EMAD does not indicate the names of the vessels tracked, but the fourth photo in this statement shows the "Viktor Leonov". This is the third time it has been detected by the Navy near the Spanish coast since April.

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Photos: Estado Mayor de la Defensa / Navy Lookout.