US denies Russian warship chased off its submarine in the Pacific amid Ukraine tensions

Moscow said the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate used ‘corresponding means’ to make the submarine leave Russian waters near the Kuril Islands

The US military, however, said ‘there is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their territorial waters’

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A Russian Pacific Fleet warship passes through ice fields in La Perouse Strait from the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, to the Sea of Okhotsk. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Published: 10:49am, 13 Feb 2022Updated: 10:57am, 19 May 2022

The United States on Saturday denied that it had carried out military operations in Russian territorial waters, after Moscow said its naval vessel chased away an American submarine in the Pacific.

Russia accused the US of breaking international law and creating a national security threat over the incident at a time of high tensions between Moscow and Washington over a Russian military build-up near Ukraine.

Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying a Russian naval vessel chased away a US submarine in Russian waters in the Pacific after the vessel ignored the ship’s orders to surface.

“There is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their territorial waters,” Captain Kyle Raines, a US military spokesman, said in a statement.

“I will not comment on the precise location of our submarines but we do fly, sail, and operate safely in international waters,” the statement added.

It is common for the US to monitor military activity being carried out by other countries without having to enter their territorial waters.