US says Russian planes buzzed Navy ship in Baltic Sea

Russian attack planes buzzed a US Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea multiple times on Monday and Tuesday, at one point coming so close — an estimated 30 feet (9 meters) — that they created wakes in the water around the ship, a US says.

The official, who is not authorized to discuss details and spoke on condition of anonymity, says the Russian Su-24 planes appeared unarmed but on Tuesday flew what the commander of the USS Donald Cook deemed to be a simulated attack profile. The Cook’s commander judged the actions unsafe and unprofessional, the official says, but the ship took no action.

It was unclear when or if the US government would formally protest the Russian actions, which come at a time of tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its military intervention in eastern Ukraine and fears among former Soviet states in eastern Europe that Russian aggression could threaten their independence.

US Navy photographs of the incident have not yet been released.

On Monday, a pair of Russian Su-24 planes made 20 close passes over the Cook, coming as close as 1,000 yards at an altitude of about 100 feet, the official says. A Polish helicopter aboard the Cook was scheduled to conduct flight operations but those maneuvers were canceled because of the Russian actions, the official says.

— AP