© Reuters/Ahmad MasoodUS Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain
The incident occurred in the Peter the Great Gulf in the Sea of Japan, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence. The American side has not addressed the situation so far.
"The large anti-submarine ship of the Pacific Fleet Admiral Vinogradov stopped the US Navy destroyer John McCain, which was violating the Russian border in the Peter the Great Gulf", an official statement issued by the MoD says. "Admiral Vinogradov, which was tracking the US destroyer, warned the foreign vessel, through an international communications channel, of the inadmissibility of such actions and of the potential of resorting to ramming to force the violator out of territorial waters".
According to the authorities, the American ship was at least two kilometres past the border. After the warning was issued, the USS
John McCain returned to neutral waters.
Following the incident, the Russian Navy dispatched the corvette
Sovershenny (
"Perfect") to the area.
Comment: US responded to the Russian warning with: 'We don't recognize your border'
The American 7th Fleet announced that Washington does not recognize the Russian maritime borders in the Gulf of Peter the Great in the Sea of Japan near the city of Vladivostok, after a U.S. destroyer violated these borders today.
The command of the American 7th Fleet said in a statement that the destroyer John McCain was carrying out an operation to ensure freedom of navigation in the Peter the Great Bay.
"By implementing this process to ensure freedom of navigation, the United States has demonstrated that these waters are not the territorial sea of Russia, and that the United States does not agree with Russia's statement that the Peter the Great Bay is a historic bay, according to international law."
The statement claimed that the system, according to which the bay is considered part of Russian territorial waters, was declared by the authorities of the Soviet Union in 1984.
It is reported that the area of responsibility of the U.S. Seventh Fleet includes the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean.
Comment: US responded to the Russian warning with: 'We don't recognize your border'