Russia denies acting reckless in ship flyby

The USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) anchors out in Corfu, Greece, during a scheduled port visit. Russian military aircraft have conducted a series of "aggressive" overflights of a US destroyer in international waters in the Baltic Sea, a US defense official said April 13, 2016. AFP PHOTO | US NAVY

What you need to know:

  • Russia denied on Thursday its fighter jets were engaged in reckless or provocative behaviour when they flew just metres from a US destroyer in international waters in the Baltic Sea, exacerbating tensions between the rival powers.
  • The aircraft repeatedly buzzed the USS Donald Cook this week, including an incident on Tuesday when a Russian Su-24 jet flew nine metres above the ship in a “simulated attack profile,” the US military’s European Command said.
  • The destroyer’s commanding officer Charles Hampton told journalists in Lithuania that “very low, very fast” flybys were “inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries in international waters or international airspace”.
  • Russia countered the criticism, insisting it had observed all safety regulations.

MOSCOW, Thursday

Russia denied on Thursday its fighter jets were engaged in reckless or provocative behaviour when they flew just metres from a US destroyer in international waters in the Baltic Sea, exacerbating tensions between the rival powers.

The aircraft repeatedly buzzed the USS Donald Cook this week, including an incident on Tuesday when a Russian Su-24 jet flew nine metres above the ship in a “simulated attack profile,” the US military’s European Command said.

Ties between Russia and the West have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War over Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Kiev and its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

One US defence official called the actions of the Russian planes “more aggressive than anything we’ve seen in some time”.

The destroyer’s commanding officer Charles Hampton told journalists in Lithuania that “very low, very fast” flybys were “inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries in international waters or international airspace”.

RUSSIAN COUNTER

Russia countered the criticism, insisting it had observed all safety regulations.

Su-24 planes were conducting test flights in the area and “having observed the ship, turned away in observance of all safety measures,” Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement on the ministry’s Facebook page.

“Frankly speaking, we don’t understand such a sore reaction from our US colleagues,” the statement added.

“With the US Navy destroyer in operational proximity of the Russian navy’s Baltic fleet base, the principle of its free sea navigation does not negate the principle of free air navigation of Russian planes.”

The US military’s European Command (EUCOM) released video showing warplanes zooming so close past the Cook that one sailor can be heard saying: “He is below the bridge wing,” meaning the plane was flying lower than the highest point of the ship.

The manoeuvres began on Monday while the destroyer was located about 70 nautical miles from the Russian base in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea.

A Ka-27 Helix anti-submarine helicopter and Russian Su-24 planes flew around the ship.