The Navy on Tuesday refuted Russia’s claim that it found and drove an American warship out of the Sea of Japan.
Destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) performed a freedom of navigation operation in the waters near Peter the Great Bay, a gulf off the Pacific coast of Russia in the Sea of Japan, U.S. 7th Fleet said in a news release.
Moscow’s Ministry of Defense said that during the operation Russian destroyer Admiral Vinogradov drove McCain out of the bay after telling the American destroyer it could ram the ship if McCain did not leave the area, according to a report in Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.
“The Pacific Fleet’s Admiral Vinogradov anti-submarine destroyer used an international communication channel to warn the foreign vessel that such actions were unacceptable and the violator could be forced out of the country’s territorial waters in a ramming maneuver. After the [warning] was issued and the Admiral Vinogradov changed its course, the USS John S. McCain destroyer returned to international waters,” reads a statement from the ministry, as reported by TASS.
