RUSSIAN WARSHIP THREATENS TO RAM U.S. DESTROYER

MOSCOW Russia said on Tuesday one of its warships caught and chased off a U.S. destroyer operating illegally in its territorial waters in the Sea of Japan, but the U.S. Navy denied wrongdoing by its vessel and accused Moscow of making excessive maritime claims.

The Admiral Vinogradov, a Russian destroyer, verbally warned USS John S. Mccain, a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, and threatened to ram it in order to force it to leave the area, prompting it to return to neutral waters, Moscow said.

The U. S. Navy said its warship had been in international waters throughout as it carried out a “freedom of navigation” operation to assert its rights and challenge what it said were Russia's excessive maritime claims.