Moscow speaks of an incident
US denies Kremlin submarine report
02/12/2022 11:56 p.m
In the midst of the Ukraine crisis, the Kremlin reports an incident involving an American submarine in Russian waters. But Washington disagrees with the report. “We fly, sail and operate safely in international waters,” said a US Navy spokesman.
The US has denied Russia’s account of an incident involving an American submarine in the Pacific. A spokesman for the US Navy for the Indo-Pacific region told dpa: “The Russian claims that we are operating in their territorial waters are not true.” He will not comment on the exact location of US boats, “but we fly, sail and operate safely in international waters,” the spokesman said.
The Russian Defense Ministry had previously announced that a US submarine had been expelled from its own territorial waters in the Pacific. The Virginia-class boat violated the Russian state border near the Kuril Islands on Saturday. Exercises by the Russian Navy were planned there at the time.
Because the US crew initially ignored warnings, the Russian side used “appropriate means” to force the boat to turn back, it said. Details were not initially given. The American military attaché was later summoned to the Defense Ministry in Moscow to hand him a note of protest.
The incident comes at a time of great tension between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin at any time. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made it clear that the US believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine is possible before the end of the February 20 Winter Olympics in China. Russia denies this and for its part accuses the USA of increasing the risk of war itself by warning of Russian aggression.