Deadly Serious’: Near-Misses Between US, Russian Ships No Accident, and No Joke

Provocations between US and Russians warships, similar to the incident that occurred Friday in the East China Sea, are extremely dangerous but all too common ‒ and any one could lead to disaster, Mark Sleboda, an international affairs and security analyst, told Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear.

On Friday, the US Navy released a video of the near-collision between Russian destroyer Admiral Vinogradov and US Navy cruiser USS Chancellorsville in the East China Sea. The Russian Pacific Fleet responded with a statement that the US ship had suddenly changed course and crossed the path of the Russian destroyer “just 50 meters away from the ship.” The US Seventh Fleet denied Russia’s version of events, blaming the Russian vessel for nearly causing a collision.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>BREAKING: <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/USNavy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#USNavy</a> has released video of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/USSChancellorsville?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#USSChancellorsville</a> being forced to maneuver to avoid collision, after <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Russian?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Russian</a> destroyer Udaloy I made an unsafe and unprofessional approach in the Phillippine Sea, June 7th. (1/2) <a href=”https://t.co/HpmAMtYraS”>pic.twitter.com/HpmAMtYraS</a></p>&mdash; U.S. Navy (@USNavy) <a href=”https://twitter.com/USNavy/status/1136978260770938883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 7, 2019</a></blockquote>

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​”While USS Chancellorsville was recovering its helicopter on a steady course and speed when the Russian ship DD572 maneuvered from behind and to the right of Chancellorsville accelerated and closed to an unsafe distance of approximately 50-100 feet. This unsafe action forced USS Chancellorsville to execute all engines back full and to maneuver to avoid collision,” the Seventh Fleet’s statement reads.

Sleboda explained to host Brian Becker that “the US is regularly doing naval parades in the East China Sea and the South China Sea in what they refer to as freedom of navigation exercises.”