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MOSCOW – A Russian warship on Tuesday chased a US Navy destroyer from the waters of the Sea of Japan, known in South Korea as the East Sea, said the Russian military – the latest of a series of close contacts between Russian and American forces around the world. .
US military officials responded by saying that the destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, had conducted a “freedom of navigation” operation at Peter the Great Bay – the largest bay in the sea. The United States and the Russia have long disagreed over Moscow’s claim to the region.
Russian officials said in a statement that the US destroyer traveled 2 km (about 1.2 miles) beyond its sea border around 6 a.m. (10 p.m. ET Monday), before being chased by a ship. Russian – Admiral Vinogradov.
“Admiral Vinogradov […] warned the foreign vessel through an international communication channel of the inadmissibility of such actions and of the possibility of using a ramming maneuver, ”the statement said.
The McCain then changed course and left the area after the Vinogradov turned to the American destroyer, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The US 7th Fleet issued a statement that the McCain had operated under international law and that Russia in 1984 illegally claimed the area as “internal waters.”
The border claimed by Russia is “incompatible with the rules of international law as reflected in the Convention on the Law of the Sea to delimit the waters of a bay,” according to the US statement.
International maritime borders are generally recognized some distance offshore. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union claimed much of the Peter the Great Gulf – which Americans call a bay – beyond these traditional borders. The United States and its allies reject this claim.
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The 7th Fleet said McCain’s operation was intended to demonstrate that these waters are not the territory of Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry statement added that the Vinogradov continues to monitor the McCain’s movements.
In August, the United States said several American soldiers were injured when American and Russian vehicles collided in Syria. Both sides blamed the other for the incident. Videos posted to Russian social media accounts appeared to show Russian vehicles trying to get American vehicles off the road.
In May, US ships entered the Barents Sea – recognized as international waters, but a traditional playground for Russia’s Northern Fleet – in what the US Navy described as the first operation claiming freedom of navigation in the region since the cold war.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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