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Russian planes did not approach Canadian warship — Defense Ministry

Canadian Defense Minister Robert Nicholson said that a Russian warplane on September 7 allegedly flew over the Toronto frigate, which was participating in international exercises in the Black Sea
The Russian Defense Ministry ITAR-TASS/Sergei Karpov
The Russian Defense Ministry
© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Karpov

MOSCOW, September 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Air Force Su-24 and An-26 planes on scheduled flights over the Black Sea flew near the Canadian Toronto warship, but did not approach it, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman Igor Konashenkov told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday.

Earlier, Canadian Defense Minister Robert Nicholson said that a Russian warplane on Sunday, September 7, allegedly flew over the Toronto frigate, which was participating in international exercises in the Black Sea.

“The route of Russian Air Force planes crossed the area where the Canadian Navy’s Toronto was, but without approaching the foreign warship,” Konashenkov said. It was a scheduled flight over neutral waters near the Russian state border, he added. "All flights were and are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of air space over neutral waters," the official said.

The maneuvres of Ukrainian and NATO warships Sea Breeze 2014 began on September 8. Earlier, the Canadian and Spanish frigates Toronto and Almirante Juan de Borbon, the US destroyer Ross, the French corvette Commandant Birot and the Turkish corvette Buyukada came into the sea.

Foreign ships were not planned to call at Ukrainian ports during the exercises.