Russia says it pushed U.S. destroyer from area near its waters
CTV
Russia's Defence Ministry said a Russian warship on Friday prevented a U.S. Navy destroyer from what it described as an attempt to intrude into Russia's territorial waters in the Sea of Japan.
The incident came as Russia and China conducted joint naval drills in the area, and follows other close encounters involving Russian and Western warships.
The ministry said that the Russian navy's Admiral Tributs destroyer closely approached the U.S. destroyer USS Chafee to force it out of the area near Russian waters that was declared off limits to shipping due to the Russian artillery drills there.
It said the Russian ship came close to the U.S. warship after it had ignored repeated warnings to leave the area in the Peter the Great Gulf. After "making an attempt to cross the Russian sea border," the U.S. warship changed course when the two ships were just 60 metres (66 yards) away from each other and sped away, the ministry said.
It charged that the U.S. destroyer's manoeuvres represented a "crude violation" of the international rules on averting ships' collision and a 1972 agreement between Moscow and Washington on preventing air and naval incidents.
