The AP has obtained audio of what military officials say is a broadcast from the Kildin, a Russian spy ship that drifted uncontrolled off Syria's coast last month.

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.