U.S. warship leads drills in Russia’s backyard, a message that the Black Sea is “for everybody”

Black Sea, on board the USS Ross — A tense confrontation between a British warship and therefore the Russian military was captured on camera late last month. Russian planes buzzed British vessels and issued hostile warnings. The incident happened within the Black Sea , where the U.S. and dozens of other countries are still conducting military exercises.

Russia has refused to permit foreign ships to undergo what it considers its body of water off the Crimean Peninsula — territory that Moscow unilaterally annexed faraway from Ukraine in 2014. Russia has threatened to bomb any vessels that enter the world . 

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Ross left the Ukrainian port of Odessa recently to steer the military drills within the Black Sea , and CBS News’ Holly Williams is that the only American network correspondent on board the warship. 

Williams watched as U.S. sailors opened fire on a hostile craft, took aim at enemy warplanes and came under fire by fighter jets. it had been just a simulation — a live-fire military exercise involving 28 American military allies.

But America’s real-life rival seemed to be keeping careful watch on the drills. Four Russian ships took turns shadowing the USS Ross, and Russian fighter jets repeatedly circled nearby.

Commander John D. John, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. The Navy told Williams he wasn’t concerned. It might take tons of the Russians operating accessible to impress a true clash. 

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“If somebody opens fire on you, that might warrant you taking self-defense measures,” he said. “If somebody is aggressive and you are feeling threatened, you’ve got the proper to defend yourself.” 

When British warship, the HMS Defender, entered the waters off Crimea last month, it had been subjected to more hostile tactics within the Black Sea . The U.K. government denied Moscow’s claims that Russian planes had dropped bombs within the Defender’s path and fired warning shots, but the Russian military did threaten to attack.

In a radio transmission from the incident, a Russian officer is often heard warning British vessel in heavily accented English: “If you do not jibe , I’ll fire.”  

Russia sent soldiers to illegally seize control of the Crimean Peninsula from neighboring Ukraine quite seven years ago, but the U.S. and its allies don’t recognize the Russian takeover and sailing a warship through Crimean waters drives that time home.

Russia has threatened to bomb foreign warships that sail into those waters within the future. 

The work out that the USS Ross is participating in is several miles faraway from that patch of the Black Sea , and therefore the American warship is heavily armed with Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles, and torpedoes.

Commander John calls it Swiss Army knife of U.S. warships — well equipped to debar aggression from enemy ships, aircraft or maybe submarines.

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During the “Sea Breeze 2021” exercise, the U.S. The Navy has put which may on display, partially to reassure American allies.

The U.S. says it’s committed to maintaining the safety of the Black Sea , and that is crucial for America’s friends within the region, including many countries that sleep in close proximity to Russia, and fear Russian encroachment.