Two Russian fighter-bombers Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO: Fencer) and a surveillance plane flew over the sky and made several passes in the vicinity of the Canadian guided missile frigate.
TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian navy frigate taking part in a NATO exercise in the Black Sea was buzzed by three Russian military jets off the southern coast of Ukraine in an "unnecessarily provocative" incident, Defense Minister Rob Nicholson said Monday.
While the incident Sunday did not pose a threat, Nicholson said it risks escalating tensions in the region even further at a time when a fragile ceasefire is just taking hold.
Two Russian Su-24 Fencer fighter jets and a surveillance plane buzzed the frigate.
Nicholson said Canada and its allies are taking part in reassurance measures as a "direct result of the Putin regime's military aggression and invasion of Ukraine."
Russia's defense ministry has brushed off the accusation.
Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies on Tuesday that the Russian jets were indeed flying in that area but were behaving "strictly in line with international rules."
Moscow said an Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft and an Antonov An-26 transport plane were carrying out "planned flights over neutral waters of the Black Sea near the Russian Federation's state border".
"The flightpath of the planes of the Russian airforce ran through an area where the HMCS Toronto was located, without approaching the foreign military vessel," Major General Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.
The Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto.
The HMCS Toronto left Canada's Atlantic coast at the end of July with 250 sailors and Sea King helicopters on board to join the NATO mission.
Russia and the West are locked in a dramatic standoff over a crisis in Ukraine where Kremlin-backed separatists are battling against pro-Western Kiev authorities.
Ukraine said on Monday it had launched three-day naval exercises with US-led NATO forces in the Black Sea aimed at guaranteeing its security.
No comments:
Post a Comment