The Russian Defense Ministry commented on the situation with the guided missile destroyer USS McCampbell, which, according to the US Navy, sailed in international waters near Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of Japan on December 5 to “challenge” Russia.
Cauising smiles among the international audience, the US Navy declared that this event was a big “victory” over the Russians. However, this success appeared to be even more questionable after the Russian Navy released more details of the event.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the US destroyer actually “never came closer than 100km” to the Russian territorial waters.
“Currently, the crew of ‘USS Campbell’ is ‘demonstrating’ its valor from more than 400km away from Russia’s territorial waters, in the central part of the Sea of Japan,” the Defense Ministry’s spokesperson, Major General Igor Konashenkov stressed.
He added that during its journey, the US destroyed was closely tracked by a Russian destroyer, Admiral Tributs, along with the aircraft of Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
Konashenkov stated that the Russian warship stayed “in immediate vicinity” of the US ship so if “the American destroyer’s crew demonstrated anything, it was its unsuccessful attempt to escape at full speed from Pacific Fleet forces escorting it.”