Russian warplanes have repeatedly buzzed the U.S. Navy destroyer Ross over the past several days in the Black Sea, international waters that are becoming more critical as both Russia and the U.S. assert their influence in East Europe.
Two Russian Su-24 fighters flew by Ross eight times on Friday, four times on Saturday, and an unknown number of times on Monday, according to a defense official.
The ship was last reported on the Western side of the Black Sea, in the vicinity of the Romanian and Bulgarian coastlines, the official said.
On Saturday, the ballistic missile defense-capable destroyer was approached by two Russian Su-24 fighters that each performed several passes around the ship. The planes were flying at an altitude of about 200 feet and were about three ship lengths away from the destroyer.
Ross is one of four BMD-capable destroyers that have been home ported in Rota, Spain, to provide additional defense options for Europe and the U.S.
The Pentagon was quick to deflate Saturday’s incident, noting that the “Russian planes were naked, in other words no weapons aboard. No weapons on their wings. Two, the USS Ross never changed course or deviated from its mission, three nobody assessed that there were any threatening actions or aggressive actions,” said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren.
The presence of both the U.S. and Russia so close together, the Defense Department contended, was nothing more than “two groups operating in international space,” Warren said.
But in an unusual response, U.S. Naval Forces Europe released a video of Saturday’s fly-by on Monday morning, and spoke on background to confirm the Friday and Monday incidents.
Warren said there was no communication between the Russian aircraft and the Ross during Saturday’s incident.
On Monday, the Russians buzzed the Ross again, but Warren said the Pentagon did not have details to share on that event yet.
The flyovers were interpreted differently by both countries.
The U.S. Navy maintained in a statement that “at no time did Ross act aggressively nor did she deviate from her planned operations.”
Russia’s state news agency RIA, on the other hand, said on Saturday that the crew of the destroyer was acting “provocatively and aggressively.”
The behavior “concerned the operators of monitoring stations and ships of the Black Sea Fleet,” RIA quoted a source as saying.
“Su-24 attack aircraft demonstrated to the American crew readiness to harshly prevent a violation of the frontier and to defend the interests of the country,” the source said.
The ship was on a routine patrol in the area, the U.S. Navy said.
