Tensions between Russia and the United States continued to be high after Russian military aircraft were scrambled to harass a U.S. warship that was acting “aggressively” in the Black Sea, according to Russian media.
The Russian military source said that the U.S. destroyer Ross was moving along the edge of Russia’s territorial waters and heading toward Russia.
“The crew of the ship acted provocatively and aggressively, which concerned the operators of monitoring stations and ships of the Black Sea Fleet,” RIA news, a state mouthpiece, said in the report.
“Su-24 attack aircraft demonstrated to the American crew readiness to harshly prevent a violation of the frontier and to defend the interests of the country.”
Both U.S. and Russian military spokespeople did not comment on the alleged incident.
Its the latest example of encounters between Russian and Western militaries, as tensions continue over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The waters nearby are home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, one of the largest Navies in the world.
Non-violent skirmishes are becoming increasingly common around the world as earlier this month both Britain and Sweden had to scramble fighters to intercept Russian bombers encroaching on their territory. Sweden’s neighbor, Finland, had to fire depth charges at a trespassing Russian submarine earlier this year as well.
And just last month the United States announced it was filing a complaint with Russia over a Russian fighter’s “sloppy” and unsafe interception of a U.S. reconnaissance plane in international air space over the Baltic Sea.
While the incidents have not been violent they raise the chance of accidents that could have far reaching and long lasting ramifications. China, in addition to Russia, has been engaged in similar incidents during the same time period.
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