US Says Russian Planes Buzzed Navy Ship in Baltic Sea

Four Russian fighter jets and one Russian helicopter conducted several "aggressive flight maneuvers" close to the deck of a United States Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea this week.

According to a report from the Navy, the USS Donald Cook was in international waters when the incident took place.

Two Russian SU-24 jets made several close passes of the ship on Monday at low altitude. The following day, a Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter circled the ship seven times, which the Navy release deemed "unsafe and unprofessional." Forty minutes later, two more SU-24 jets made 11 passes of the ship in a "simulated attack profile."

"April 11-12, USS Donald Cook was operating in a professional manner in international waters conducting operations and exercises with our allies in the Baltic Sea," said Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, Adm. Mark Ferguson.

"In my judgement these maneuvers in close proximity to Donald Cook are unprofessional and unsafe."

A U.S. Defense official told the Associated Press the Russian aircraft appeared to be unarmed. They did not respond to several radio calls by the USS Donald Cook.

The ship was reportedly 70 miles off the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

The Navy posted several videos of the incident onto YouTube.

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