Russia rejects criticism of fly-by near US Navy destroyer

The first incident happened April 11 while the USS Donald Cook was conducting landing drills and refueling an allied military helicopter.

American destroyer USS Donald Cook was about 70 km off a Russian naval base when Russian bombers Su-24 flew over the ship, said Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministrys spokesman.

A pair of Russian attack jets flew 20 passes on the ship Monday, coming as close as 1,000 yards at an altitude of 100 feet, ignoring radio calls from the Cook and forcing the ship to cancel flight operations.

The passes were “unsafe, potentially provocative” and “could have caused an accident”, officials said in a release.

USA and Navy officials said they are addressing the incidents through diplomatic channels.

The flight operations by the Polish helicopter were interrupted because one of the overflights was so close.

Sailors aboard the ship described the Sukhoi Russian Su-24 as “wings clean”, meaning there were no visible bombs or armaments on the aircraft, the defense official said.

And the White House says the incidents are inconsistent with acceptable behavior in worldwide waters.

But the Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday the jets were on test flights, and that “having observed the ship, turned away in observance of all safety measures”.

In February, the U.S. Department of Defense announced it was spending $3.4 billion for the European Reassurance Initiative in an effort to deter Russian aggression against North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.

It was one of the most aggressive interactions between the two former Cold War foes in recent memory, the official said, although the planes carried no visible weaponry.

Russian fighter jets have flown dangerously close to a US warship, “simulating an attack” the US Navy have said.

“If you have visual identification of the jet, [you] can see it isn’t carrying weapons, and don’t detect any electronic emissions suggesting there was a missile lock on the ship, there’s nothing to be done”, said a report.

The actions are being considered a violation of a 1970s agreement meant to prevent unsafe incidents at sea.

The aircraft did not respond to safety warnings in English or Russian.

The US military’s Europe Command (EUCOM) had earlier published several videos allegedly showing the maneuvers by the Russian jets.