Russia claims a US warship ran away after one of its destroyers threatened to ram it, but the US Navy says it didn't happen

• The US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain conducted a freedom-of-navigation operation Thursday that challenged Russia's excessive maritime claims in the Sea of Japan.
• Russia accused the US of violating its territory and claimed that the destroyer Admiral Vinogradov warned the American vessel and threatened to ram it. The Russian defense ministry said that the US ship departed immediately after the warning.
• The US Navy said that the Russian statement is "false," and a Navy official told Insider that there was nothing unsafe, unprofessional, or threatening about the encounter.

Russia is claiming victory in a naval confrontation that the US Navy says never happened.

The US destroyer USS John S. McCain conducted a freedom-of-navigation operation (FONOP) in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of Japan on Thursday, challenging excessive Russian maritime claims, 7th Fleet said in a statement.

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union attempted to claim territorial waters beyond what is accepted in international law, and Russia continues those claims today. The US, however, does not acknowledge those waters as Russian territory.

The Russian defense ministry said that the US warship violated its maritime borders by sailing through Russian territorial waters and that the Russian destroyer Admiral Vinogradov was sent to drive the American ship away.

The defense ministry said that the Russian warship issued a warning and threatened to use "a ramming maneuver" to force the McCain out of its waters. Russia claims that after the warning was issued, the Admiral Vinogradov changed course, and the McCain returned to international waters.

The US, however, flatly rejected this version of events.

"The Russian Federation's statement about this mission is false," the 7th Fleet said in an update to its original statement, adding that "USS John S. McCain was not 'expelled' from any nation's territory. McCain conducted this FONOP in accordance with international law and continued to conduct normal operations in international waters."

While the Admiral Vinogradov was there, a Navy official told Insider that all interactions during the FONOP were in accordance with international law, which is to say there was nothing unsafe, unprofessional, or threatening about the encounter.

The US Navy has had "unsafe" encounters with Admiral Vinogradov in the past though.

In early June 2019, the Russian destroyer maneuvered dangerously close to the US Navy cruiser USS Chancellorsville in the Pacific, risking a collision at sea. The Russian vessel came within 100 feet of the US vessel as it was attempting to recover a helicopter.

"This unsafe action forced USS Chancellorsville to execute all engines back full and to maneuver to avoid collision," 7th Fleet said at the time.

Russia tried to blame the US for the 2019 incident, with the defense ministry claiming that the US ship "suddenly changed course and cut across the path of the destroyer Admiral Vinogradov," but photos from the incident poke holes in the Russian argument.

The US and Russian militaries have also had a number of close calls in the air as well in recent years, such as when Russian fighters carried out three "unsafe" intercepts of US P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft in April and May.

And, in August, there was an incident in which Russian fighter jets crossed within 100 feet of the nose of a US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber, risking an accident.