Russian warship ‘threatens to ram’ US destroyer

A Russian warship has allegedly threatened to ram a US destroyer during a rare naval standoff between the two countries in the waters off Russia’s Pacific coast.

Russia said on Tuesday that the Admiral Vinogradov, a destroyer, threatened the USS John S McCain, a US navy guided-missile destroyer, for “operating illegally” in its territorial waters in the Sea of Japan.

The US Navy said its vessel had been in international waters as it carried out a “freedom of navigation” operation to assert its rights and challenge what it said were Russia’s excessive maritime claims. The US ship retreated to neutral waters, Moscow claimed.

Russia and the US regularly scramble aircraft to intercept each other’s bombers and surveillance aircraft as they veer on provocative flight paths near international borders. Russian pilots appear to take pleasure in unnerving their American counterparts, and the US has complained about the intercepts being “unsafe”.

But it is rarer for the two countries’ ships to challenge or threaten to ram one another. In January, a Russian military ship came within 60 yards of the USS Faraggut, a destroyer, in the North Arabian Sea. The US complained that the ship behaved “aggressively”. Another near-collision came near the Philippines in 2019 between a US guided missile cruiser and a Russian destroyer.

On Tuesday, Russia said its Pacific Fleet warship had been tracking the American destroyer in the Peter the Great Gulf, and that the US vessel had violated Russia’s territorial waters at 0317 GMT by going 2km beyond the sea border.

“… the US will never bow in intimidation or be coerced into accepting illegitimate maritime claims, such as those made by the Russian Federation,” said Lt Joe Keiley, 7th Fleet spokesperson.

“The Russian Federation’s statement about this mission is false,” he said. “USS John S McCain was not ‘expelled’ from any nation’s territory.”

The US destroyer made no further attempts to enter Russian waters after leaving the area, Moscow said. The Admiral Vinogradov was continuing to observe its movements and another vessel, a corvette, was dispatched to the area, it added.

Such incidents at sea are rare but they underscore the poor diplomatic and military relations between Russia and the US, whose ties are languishing at a post-cold war low.