Russia says it chased US warship from its waters
Moscow claims US Navy destroyer John McCain passed 2km beyond its sea border
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Your support makes all the difference.Russia on Tuesday said that it had expelled an American warship, the US Navy destroyer John McCain, which was violating its border in the Sea of Japan.
The Russian defence ministry said Admiral Vinogradov, a large anti-submarine ship of its Pacific fleet, “stopped the US Navy destroyer John McCain, which was violating the Russian border in the Peter the Great Gulf”.
Admiral Vinogradov, which was tracking the US destroyer, “warned the foreign vessel”, through an international communications channel, of the “inadmissibility of such actions” and of the “potential of resorting to ramming to force the violator out of territorial waters,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
The US warship had reportedly gone two kilometres beyond the sea border.
Russia said following the warning US ship immediately returned to neutral waters.
It claimed that though the US warship made no attempts to re-enter the Russian waters it sent another vessel, a corvette, to the area while Admiral Vinogradov was continuing to observe the movements of the US vessel.
The Pentagon is yet to comment on the incident, which highlights the poor state of relations between the two nations.
Russia remains the only major country that has failed to recognise Democrat president-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the US elections.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will wait for the election result to be formalised by the electoral college in December, and that Russia will work with anyone who has the confidence of the American people or whose victory has been confirmed legally.
Additional reporting by agencies
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