Russian Jets Head Off US Destroyer in Black Sea
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Russian Navy jets forced a US Navy ship into the eastern Black Sea after it was noticed heading into Russia's territorial waters, RIA reported.
Russian Navy Su-24 jets forced US Navy destroyer USS Ross to go into neutral waters in the Black Sea, a source in Crimea's security forces told RIA Novosti on Saturday.
The US Navy ship was noticed heading directly toward Russian waters after leaving the Romanian port of Costanta. The incident coincided with Georgian ex-leader Mikhail Saakashvili's appointment as governor of Ukraine's Black Sea-bordering Odessa region.
"The ship's crew acted provocatively and aggressively, which caused alarm among operators of monitoring stations and Black Sea Fleet ships carrying out assignments in the Black Sea. Scrambled Su-24 attack jets demonstrated a readiness to forcibly suppress border violations and defend the country's interest," the source said.
According to the source, Russian Black Sea Navy ships are constantly monitoring Russian territorial waters and are ready to suppress any violations.
"It seems that the Americans did not forget the April 2014 incident when one Su-24 actually shut down all equipment on the new USS Donald Cook American destroyer with anti-missile system elements," the source added.
Speaking at Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said that US missile ships near Russian borders pose a danger to strategic stability.
