Russia on Thursday may have dismissed concerns over its fighter jets flying dangerously close to a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea this week, but experts and U.S. officials say the move must be seen in context as another in a long line of warning shots about Russian power.
Beyond just a solitary, splashy episode, the Russian jets buzzing the USS Donald Cook are part of a pattern of aggressive Russian behavior in this sphere, Hudson Institute research fellow Hannah Thoburn told The Cipher Brief.
“This has been a little bit sensationalized, just because the videos are so striking and the photos are so close,” Thoburn, who focuses on Russian and Ukrainian politics, said. “The thing that I wish more people would spend time focusing on is that it’s a pattern. It’s not simply that this is so flashy this one time — it’s not just one time.”
“They’ve been sending a long, drawn out message over the past several years. They’re trying to make themselves heard. This just happened to be caught on camera,” she added.
The USS Donald Cook encountered “multiple, aggressive flight maneuvers” by Russian aircraft on Monday and Tuesday while operating in international waters in the Baltic Sea, U.S. European Command said in a statement detailing the incidents. Two Russian SU-24 jets made “numerous, close-range and low altitude passes” on Monday, which were deemed unsafe by the ship’s commanding officer.
The following day, a Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter conducted seven circles at low altitude around the ship, and 40 minutes later, two Russian SU-24 jets made about 11 passes. EUCOM said the aircraft “flew in a simulated attack profile” and failed to respond to safety advisories in both English and Russian.
“We have deep concerns about the unsafe and unprofessional Russian flight maneuvers,” EUCOM said on Wednesday. “These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in a miscalculation or accident that could cause serious injury or death.”
Russian Ministry of Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, meanwhile, told the state-owned TASS news agency on Thursday, “frankly speaking, [the ministry] even does not understand the reason for such a painful reaction of our American colleagues.”
This isn’t the first time Russian warplanes have buzzed the Donald Cook — two years ago in April 2014, a fighter jet also conducted several aggressive passes close to the destroyer.
For several years, Russia has been conducting flybys of American ships and has had similar naval spats with countries such as Sweden and Lithuania, Thoburn pointed out.
It’s a crucial part of Russia’s military posturing and positioning, she said, and is targeted at “pushing back on what they see as unwanted American influence in what they consider to be their region.” In doing these exercises, Russia is trying to make it clear what its military capacity is — and that it’s not afraid to use it.
“It’s a way of sort of sending a warning shot, as they’ve been doing now for several years, that, one, we have the capacity to project power and to say, we’re back and you’re going to have to deal with it,” Thoburn said. “And two, it’s a very small part of fulfilling Putin’s major objective to reinsert Russia into the major power conversation.”
Several U.S. officials also emphasized the importance of seeing Russia’s actions in the Baltic Sea this week in the broader context of Russian military posturing.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that Secretary John Kerry was “alarmed” at the images and reports of the passes on the Donald Cook. “He found it unprofessional, needlessly provocative and indeed dangerous. And I can tell you he will raise it directly with Foreign Minister Lavrov."
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the incident “yet another unacceptable provocation by the Russian military,” and fellow Republican Randy Forbes of Virginia, chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee, also weighed in, suggesting that “U.S. naval activity in Europe must be expanded accordingly to address the threat posed by Russia’s international behavior.”
U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who served in the Air Force in both Iraq and Afghanistan, called Russia’s close encounter with the USS Donald Cook “incredibly dangerous.”
“Their actions risked a very serious and deadly escalation,” he told The Cipher Brief in a statement. “Time and again, the threatening actions against the West have shown the Russians to be untrustworthy. This show of force at just 75 feet from our sailors could have ended much differently, and I commend the discipline exercised by the Navy commander on board.”
“Our Navy sailors have to defend themselves, and frankly, what happened yesterday is another example of Russian intimidation and hostility,” he added. “It’s a very dangerous and menacing game that Vladimir Putin continues to play, and he’s playing with fire.”
Mackenzie Weinger is a National Security Reporter with The Cipher Brief.
