Russian spy ship caught fire off Syria’s coast, its broadcast recorded

The man is insistent: Our ship is in difficulty, so keep your distance, he instructs another vessel over the radio.

“Warship on your course,” he says. “I am drifting. I’m not under command.”

The broadcast, according to military officials, came from a Russian spy ship, the Kildin, as the vessel packed with intelligence-gathering equipment drifted temporarily out of control off the Syrian coast on Jan. 23, with flames and black fumes rising from its smokestack.

The Associated Press obtained audio of the broadcast, as well as video and photos showing the blaze, that three military officials said were gathered by a ship from a NATO nation operating nearby. The officials, also from a NATO country, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the fire and radio transmission that Russian authorities haven’t publicly reported.

The audio provides an unusual peek inside Russia’s fleet of spy ships that NATO nations are watching closely because of concerns that Moscow might sabotage underwater cables and pipelines amid tensions over the war in Ukraine . Even though the Kildin was in trouble, the secretive ship didn’t respond to an offer of help from the NATO vessel, the officials said.

The U.K. last month tracked another Russian vessel that it identified as a spy ship in the English Channel. The Defense Ministry said the Yantar “was caught loitering over critical undersea infrastructure” and that a Royal Navy submarine surfaced close to the ship “to warn it had been secretly monitoring its every move.”

Fire temporarily disables the ship

The 55-year-old Kildin gathers intelligence on NATO activities in the Mediterranean and had been operating near naval exercises by alliance member Turkey before the fire, according to the officials who spoke to the AP.

They said the blaze burned for at least four hours and that the Kildin’s crew removed the covers from lifeboats though they never put them to sea.

The Kildin also hoisted two black balls from its masts — a maritime signal that the ship can no longer steer, the officials said.

They said the crew eventually regained control and that the Kildin is still stationed and gathering intelligence off the Syrian port of Tartus, accompanied by a frigate and a supply vessel. It is not clear what caused the blaze.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he wasn’t aware of a fire aboard the Kildin and didn’t say what the ship was doing at the time.

He dismissed suggestions that it reflected poorly on Russian naval readiness. “Assessing the state of the fleet based on the breakdown of one particular ship or one particular malfunction is not professional,” Peskov said.

Retired Vice Adm. Michel Olhagaray, a former head of France’s center for higher military studies, said that even though the Kildin regained steering, the fire highlights the logistical difficulties for Russia of maintaining naval forces in the Mediterranean, far from its bases in the Arctic and the Baltic Sea.

Moscow also is no longer able to use its Black Sea Fleet for Mediterranean patrols because during the Ukraine war Turkey isn’t allowing warships to pass through the Bosporus, which links the Black and Mediterranean seas.

“The maintenance of this Russian fleet, particularly in the Mediterranean, is extraordinarily complex,” Olhagaray said.

Audio captures radio exchanges

The audio gathered by the NATO ship is a 75-second radio exchange between the Kildin and a Togo-flagged cargo ship, Milla Moon, the officials said.

The AP also obtained a second recording of conversations among crew members aboard the NATO ship. In that, they can be heard identifying the exchange they’ve just monitored as being between the Kildin and a Togolese vessel. Military officials provided both recordings to the AP, which was not able to independently authenticate them.

Ship-tracking websites that use the data vessels emit on their identity, position, speed and course show the Milla Moon lifted anchor off Tartus and started cruising northward along Syria’s coast on Jan. 23. That was the day of the Kildin fire, also in waters off Tartus, the military officials said.

They said the Kildin at first identified itself to the Milla Moon as another ship, the Sky, and then asked to switch channels to continue the conversation.

After the switch, the man with accented English is then heard identifying his vessel as a warship.

“Motor vessel Milla Moon, this is warship on your course,” the voice can be heard saying on the clip. “Please hear me.”

He asks the Milla Moon to steer clear.

“I am drifting. I’m not under command,” he says.

Milla Moon responds that it will plot a course away before signing off with, “You are welcome. Good watch. Goodbye.”

那人坚持说：“我们的船遇到麻烦了，所以请保持距离。”他通过无线电指示另一艘船。

“军舰，按你的航线走，”他说。“我正在漂流。我不受指挥。”

据军方官员称，广播来自一艘俄罗斯间谍船“基尔丁”号。1月23日，这艘满载情报收集设备的船只在叙利亚海岸附近暂时失控漂流，烟囱里冒出火焰和黑烟。

美联社获得了此次广播的音频，以及显示火灾的视频和照片。三名军方官员称，这些资料是由一艘在附近海域活动的北约国家舰艇收集的。这三名官员也来自北约国家，他们在匿名的情况下接受了美联社的采访，讨论了这场火灾和俄罗斯当局尚未公开报道的无线电通讯。

这段录音罕见地揭示了俄罗斯间谍船队的内部运作，北约国家正密切关注这支船队，因为担心莫斯科可能在乌克兰战争引发的紧张局势中破坏海底电缆和管道。官员们表示，尽管“基尔丁”号遇险，但这艘神秘的船只并未回应北约舰艇的援助提议。

英国上个月在英吉利海峡追踪到另一艘被认定为间谍船的俄罗斯船只。国防部称，“琥珀”号被发现“在关键海底基础设施附近徘徊”，一艘英国皇家海军潜艇浮出水面靠近该船，“警告称其一直在秘密监视该船的一举一动”。

火灾暂时使船只失去动力。

据美联社采访的官员称，现年 55 岁的基尔丁负责收集北约在地中海的活动情报，在火灾发生前，他一直在北约成员国土耳其的海军演习附近活动。

他们说大火至少燃烧了四个小时，基尔丁号的船员虽然没有把救生艇放到海上，但却把救生艇的罩子取了下来。

官员们表示，“基尔丁”号还在桅杆上挂起了两个黑球——这是表示该船已无法航行的海上信号。

他们表示，船员最终重新控制了船只，目前“基尔丁”号仍驻扎在叙利亚塔尔图斯港附近海域收集情报，一艘护卫舰和一艘补给船为其护航。起火原因尚不清楚。

克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫表示，他并不知晓“基尔丁”号上发生火灾，也没有透露该船当时正在做什么。

他驳斥了有关此事反映出俄罗斯海军战备状况不佳的说法。“仅凭一艘舰艇的故障或一次特定的技术缺陷就评估整个舰队的状态，这是不专业的，”佩斯科夫说。

法国高级军事研究中心前主任、退役海军中将米歇尔·奥尔哈加雷表示，尽管“基尔丁”号重新恢复了转向，但这场火灾凸显了俄罗斯在远离其北极和波罗的海基地的地中海维持海军力量的后勤困难。

由于乌克兰战争期间土耳其不允许军舰通过连接黑海和地中海的博斯普鲁斯海峡，莫斯科也无法再使用其黑海舰队在地中海进行巡逻。

奥尔哈加赖说：“维护这支俄罗斯舰队，尤其是在地中海的舰队，极其复杂。”

音频记录了无线电通信

官员们表示，北约舰艇收集到的音频是“基尔丁”号与一艘悬挂多哥国旗的货船“米拉·穆恩”号之间75秒的无线电通话。

美联社还获得了北约舰艇上船员对话的第二段录音。录音中可以听到他们确认刚才监听到的通话是“基尔丁”号与一艘多哥船只之间的对话。军方官员向美联社提供了这两段录音，但美联社无法独立核实其真实性。

船舶追踪网站利用船舶发布的身份、位置、速度和航向数据显示，“米拉·穆恩”号于1月23日从塔尔图斯附近起锚，开始沿叙利亚海岸向北航行。军方官员称，当天也是基尔丁附近海域发生火灾的日子。

他们说，基尔丁号最初向米拉·穆恩表明自己是另一艘飞船“天空号”，然后要求切换频道继续对话。

切换之后，人们听到那位说着带有口音英语的男子称他的船是一艘军舰。

视频中可以听到一个声音说：“米拉·穆恩号机动船，这里是你们航线上的军舰。请听我说。”

他要求米拉·穆恩远离。

“我漫无目的，不受任何指挥，”他说。

米拉·穆恩回应说，她将另寻出路，然后结束发言：“不客气。祝您观看愉快。再见。”