Russia says it chased off US warship amid naval drills with China
- The US military has denied this, calling the statement false and saying the interaction was ‘safe and professional’
- The incident follows other dangerously close encounters between Russian and Western vessels
Russia’s defence ministry said one of its warships 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, or East Sea.
Hours later, US Indo-Pacific Command called the Russian statement false and said the ships’ 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 Tributs destroyer closely approached the US destroyer USS Chafee 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 manoeuvres.