The Baltic Sea played host to a dramatic encounter earlier this week, as Navy officials announced on Wednesday that two Russian warplanes, together with an attack helicopter, initiated a series of simulated attack runs close to the USS Donald Cook, an American destroyer.
Though the aircrafts were unarmed, the activities of the Russian aircrafts were nonetheless enough to disrupt the U.S. Navy warship's operations. In one of the simulated attack runs, a Russia Su-24 flew as close as 75 feet away from the destroyer, enough for the ship's crew to clearly make out the details of the jets.
The incidents reportedly happened on Monday and Tuesday, as the USS Donald Cook was conducting a routine patrol in the area. Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, described the incident in a statement. "This incident, as you won't be surprised to hear, is entirely inconsistent with the professional norms of militaries operating in proximity to each other in international waters and international airspace," he said.
"Any peacetime military activity must be consistent with international law and norms and conducted with due regard for the rights of other nations and the safety of other aircraft and other vessels," Earnest added.
The statement released by the Navy described the incident in more detail. The first flyby, which occurred Monday afternoon, happened as a Polish military helicopter was conducting landing drills with the U.S. warship. The Russian planes flew so low that the drills were immediately stopped.
"One of the passes, which occurred while the Allied helicopter was refueling on the deck of Donald Cook, was deemed unsafe by the ship's commanding officer. As a safety precaution, flight operations were suspended until the SU-24s departed the area," the statement said.
The incidents happened again on Tuesday, with a Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter and two more Su-24s flying very close to the U.S. destroyer.
Poland's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz expressed his aggravation about the incident, stating that the close flybys were a clear act of provocation.
"We cannot treat this as anything else than provocation, yet another example of aggressive intentions towards NATO, towards the United States, towards Poland," he said.
Close encounters between Russian warplanes and American ships have become commonplace in recent months, with similar incidents happening back June and October last year. This recent incident, however, involved the closest flybys the Russian forces made to date.
