A Russian destroyer chased a US nuclear submarine off the Kuril Islands in Russian territorial waters, Moscow said on Saturday, an accusation denied by the US military.
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According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the vessel of the Russian Pacific Fleet “Marshal Shaposhnikov” broadcast an underwater message ordering the Virginia-class submersible “to surface immediately”.
Faced with his refusal, unidentified “means” were used, forcing the American submarine to “leave Russian territorial waters at full speed”, according to a press release from the ministry which specifies that the incident took place on Saturday. at 7:40 a.m. GMT.
“There is no truth to Russian claims about our operations in their territorial waters,” the US military denied.
“We fly, navigate and operate safely in international waters,” said Captain Kyle Raines, spokesman for the US Indo-Pacific Command, declining to comment on the precise location of US submarines in the region. region.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the US submarine was spotted during routine Russian Pacific Fleet exercises near Urup Island in Russian territorial waters.
Contacted by AFP, the Pentagon had initially declared “to be aware of press articles concerning this supposed naval incident in the Pacific”, but had specified not to be able to confirm the details.
The incident occurred a few hours before a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, in the midst of Russian-American tensions around Ukraine.
The Kremlin denounced the American “hysteria” about Ukraine after this call between the two presidents.