Judging by these unbelievable videos, released this afternoon by the U.S. European Command, the answer is: about 30 feet, which reportedly is how close a Russian fighter jet was allowed to get yesterday to a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea.
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The Cook is in the area conducting routine patrols and helicopter flight operations with Poland to “in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe”, according to a Monday posting on the U.S. Navy 6th Fleet’s website.
U.S. European Command, which oversees military operations on the continent, said in a statement that the Russian jets flew “numerous close-range and low-altitude passes” near the ship.
It was unclear if or when the US government would formally protest the Russian actions.
The second round occurred on April 12, when, again, two unarmed Su-24s made simulated low-level attack runs on the USS Donald Cook. Flight operations by the Polish helicopter were interrupted because one of the overflights was so close.
Su-24 planes were conducting test flights in the area and “having observed the ship, turned away in observance of all safety measures”, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement yesterday. This time, the jets were joined by a military helicopter that took pictures of the USA destroyer.
The fighters ignored repeated communications from the American ship, and the ship’s captain has labeled the Russian overflights as “unsafe and unprofessional”, the official said.
The US defense official said the commanding officer of the Donald Cook believed that Tuesday’s incident was “unsafe and unprofessional”. In October, U.S. Navy jets intercepted two Russian Tu-142 aircraft flying near the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the Pacific Ocean.
The Russian aerial maneuvers come as tensions rise on NATO’s eastern flank.
Since its annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russian Federation aircraft have routinely buzzed US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military assets in the region and violated the airspace of several allies. And in February the US announced that it would send six F-15s to Finland for a training exercise and pre-position tanks and artillery in Norway, both countries share a border with Russian Federation.
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MOSCOW (TNS) – Truce violations by President Bashar Assad’s forces are threatening a six-week-old cease-fire in Syria and peace talks aimed at ending five years of war, the USA warned, as Russian Federation urged Western powers to pressure the country’s opposition to strike a compromise.
