This Article is From Apr 14, 2016

Russia Rejects Criticism Of Fly-By Near US Navy Destroyer

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Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian defense ministry, said today that the pilots of Russian Su-24 jets saw the ship and turned back.

MOSCOW: Russia's defense ministry has rejected complaints by US officials who claimed Russian attack planes buzzed dangerously close to a US Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea earlier this week.

The US European command has said the Russian planes buzzed multiple times on Monday and Tuesday in what the US officials described as an unsafe and unprofessional manner.

Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian defense ministry, said today that the pilots of Russian Su-24 jets saw the ship and turned back "while using all measures of precaution."

Konashenkov said he was baffled by what he described as the "distressed reaction of our American counterparts."

The US European Command statement said on Wednesday that officials are using diplomatic channels to address the matter.

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