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According to Burke, the Russian navy constantly accompanies NATO ships operating in the Black Sea, and such interactions are generally safe and professional, "although they are done to intimidate."
At the same time, the admiral added that when a military plane “flies 30 meters above the destroyer,” the officers themselves decide whether the plane plans to attack or not.
“It can be argued that they provoke us to strike first.
We are not going to do it first without provocation, but at the same time I am not going to demand from my commanders to take the first blow to the jaw, ”the admiral said.
The publication recalls that in June and July, NATO forces conducted exercises in the Black Sea, including "Sea Breeze", in which 32 ships and 40 aircraft from 32 countries took part.
At the same time, a few days before the exercises, Russian planes allegedly "made maneuvers that the Western authorities called unsafe overflights of NATO warships in the Black Sea."
On July 3, the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet, together with the aviation of the Southern Military District, conducted combat training flights over the Black Sea against the backdrop of the NATO Sea Breeze exercises.
Also, against the backdrop of NATO maneuvers, the Russian submarine went to the exercises in the Black Sea.
The national defense control center noted that the Russian Black Sea Fleet controls the actions of NATO ships participating in the Sea Breeze exercises.