Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, commented on the incident with the American destroyer John McCain, which violated the country’s maritime borders. According to the deputy, the US actions are an attempt to escalate Russian-American relations.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense reported that the destroyer entered the Russian territorial waters in the Peter the Great Gulf for two kilometers. Having received a warning from the large anti-submarine ship of the Pacific Fleet “Admiral Vinogradov”, he immediately went into neutral waters. Later, the command of the US Seventh Fleet explained the destroyer’s maneuver as an operation “to ensure freedom of navigation.” The US military said they did not consider these waters to be Russia’s territorial sea.
“This is a political provocation in which everything is significant, including the name of John McCain, the main Russophobe and sworn enemy of Russia, after whom the American destroyer is named,” Elena Panina told RIA Novosti.
She noted that such an action on the part of Washington is taking place for the first time in a long period.