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Russian warplane takes low pass over USS Donald Cook in Black Sea

A Russian fighter jet this weekend took a low pass near the USS Donald Cook, the crew of which is pictured during refueling from the oiler USNS Laramie on Friday. Photo by Specialist 3rd Class Will Hardy/U.S. Navy
A Russian fighter jet this weekend took a low pass near the USS Donald Cook, the crew of which is pictured during refueling from the oiler USNS Laramie on Friday. Photo by Specialist 3rd Class Will Hardy/U.S. Navy

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A Russian fighter jet conducted a low pass over the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea on Sunday.

The U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet shared a video on Twitter of the Russian Sukhoi fighter-bomber flying low over the guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook in international waters in the Black Sea.

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The low pass did not result in any immediate formal public complaints, Stars and Stripes reported, but the military has criticized other recent brushes with Russian fighter planes in the region.

For example, last August, two Russian fighter planes intercepted a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber in the region.

"The Russian pilots flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner while crossing within 100 feet of the nose of the B-52 multiple times at co-altitude and while in afterburner causing turbulence and restricting the B-52's ability to maneuver," the U.S. Air Force said in statement regarding the August incident.

The U.S. Navy currently has three warships in the Black Sea.

The USS Porter entered the Black Sea last Thursday to conduct routine maritime security operations with NATO allies and partners in the region.

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And the oiler USNS Laramie arrived recently to refuel the USS Donald Cook, which entered the Black Sea on Saturday to support NATO allies.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been monitoring USS Donald Cook's movements since Jan. 23, Russia's state-funded TASS news agency reported.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said the military presence of warships belonging to states not bordering the Black Sea does not help with stability in the region, which is bordered by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Georgia.

But U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet spokesperson Specialist 3rd Class Will Hardy said in a statement Friday "the ship's combined operations further strengthen interoperability and demonstrate resolve to Black Sea peace and security."

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