Russia's defense ministry said a russian warship on friday prevented a US
navy destroyer from what it described as an attempt to intrude into russia's
territorial waters in the sea of Japan.
Hours later, US Indo-Pacific command called the russian statement false and
said the ship's interaction was safe and professional. The incident came as
Russia and China conducted joint naval drills in the area and followed other
dangerously close encounters involving russian and western warships.
It appears to reflect moscow's intention to raise the stakes in deterring
the us and its allies from sending their ships on missions near russian
waters. As relations between russia and the west are at a post-cold war low.
The ministry said the russian navy's admiral tributes destroyer closely
approached the US destroyer USS Chaffee to chase it out of the area near
russian waters that was declared off limits to shipping due to the gunnery
drills there as part of the russia-china maneuvers. It said the russian
vessel came close to the u.s warship after it had ignored repeated warnings
to leave the area in the pPter the Great Pulf.
The ministry charged that after making an attempt to cross the russian sea
border. The US warship changed course when the two ships were just 60
meters, 66 yards away from each other and sped away.
In a statement u.s indo-pacific command said the chaffee was conducting
routine operations in international waters when the russian destroyer came
within about 65 yards of the Chaffee as it was preparing for flight
operations.
It added that although russia had issued a notice to airmen and mariners to
avoid that area for a period later in the day. The notice was not in effect
at the time of the ship's interaction.
"At all times, USS Chaffee conducted operations in accordance with
international law and custom," the US statement said.
The russian statement denounced the u.s destroyer's maneuvers as a crude
violation of the international rules on averting ship's collision in a 1972
agreement between Moscow and Washington on preventing air and naval
incidents and summoned the uUS military attache to protest what it described
as its crew's unprofessional action.
Russia, the US and its NATO Allies have frequently accused each other of
dangerous and provocative maneuvers at sea and in the air as russia west
ties have been hit by Moscow's annexation of crimea, accusations of russian
interference with elections, hacking attacks and other tensions.
In june Russia said one of its warships fired warning shots and a warplane
dropped bombs in the path of british destroyer defender to drive it away
from black sea waters near the Crimean City of Sevastopol.
Britain denied that account, insisted its ship wasn't fired upon and said it
was sailing in ukrainian waters. Like most of the world, Britain recognizes
crimea as part of ukraine despite the peninsula's 2014 annexation by russia.
June's incident marked the first time since the cold war that Moscow
acknowledged using live ammunition to deter a NATO warship, underlining the
rising threat of military collisions amid russia-west tensions.
In the aftermath of the incident moscow warned that it is prepared to target
intruding warships if they fail to heed warnings.
In a statement intended to signal russian resolve, Russian President
Vladimir Putin charged that the incident couldn't have triggered a global
conflict even if Russia had sunk the warship because the west knows it can't
win such a war.
In other recent naval incidents, the russian military said the british
destroyer hms dragon intruded into russian waters near Crimea in october
2020 and the u.s destroyer USS John S. Mccain Allegedly violated the russian
border in the Peter the Great Gulf in the sea of Japan in november.
In the aftermath of those incidents, Russia rejected the US and British
arguments that their warships were exercising the right of so-called
innocent passage under international maritime law.
Retired admiral Viktor Kravchenko, the former russian navy chief of staff
said friday's incident could have had grave consequences.
"The americans apparently wanted to test our strength," he said according to
the interfax news agency. The russian warships maneuver during friday's
incident appeared to indicate Moscow's readiness to raise the stakes to
prevent similar intrusions in the future.
The encounter revived memories of a cold war incident when a soviet frigate
bumped the U.S cruiser USS Yorktown in the black sea as it was making
an innocent passage in russian waters in 1988, damaging the u.s warship.
