Navy can’t back up Conservatives’ confrontation claim
But Defence provides no evidence of confrontation with Russian craft
Since arriving in the Black Sea, Royal Canadian Navy sailors have been confronted by Russian warships and buzzed by Russian fighter jets.
The Defence Department now says there was a low-level flight by a Russian plane over a Canadian frigate in the Black Sea, but it has not provided any details to back up the Conservative government’s contention that Russian warships confronted HMCS Fredericton.
NATO officials say there was no such confrontation and that Russian warships stayed far away from the Canadian ship, which was part of an alliance maritime task force.
James Bezan, parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Jason Kenney, told the House of Commons last Tuesday, “Since arriving in the Black Sea, Royal Canadian Navy sailors have been confronted by Russian warships and buzzed by Russian fighter jets.”
Kenney repeated the claim the next day, saying that a Russian jet buzzed the Canadian frigate HMCS Fredericton at low altitude.
The Citizen asked the Department of National Defence last Wednesday for details of the incidents, but DND couldn’t provide them and instead referred all questions to NATO.
NATO officials said the frigate was not buzzed and there was no confrontation with Russian warships.
There were Russian overflights of the NATO maritime task force but those were at higher altitudes, they added.
After the Citizen article appeared Friday, DND officials issued a statement that Kenney was referring to a March 6 Russian flight in which the aircraft passed within 165 metres of the ship.
DND could not, however, provide any details about the alleged confrontation at sea with Russian warships.
NATO officials said Russian vessels could be seen far off on the horizon, but never approached the task group.
U.S. Rear Admiral Brad Williamson, commander of the maritime group, said that at one point two Russian ships were spotted in the distance. But the Russians followed all regulations required of vessels in international waters, he added.
NATO officials said the encounter wasn’t unusual and if Russian ships showed up on Canada’s coasts, the Royal Canadian Navy would have followed similar procedures for keeping an eye on foreign vessel traffic.
A BBC journalist travelling with the NATO force reported that a Russian surveillance aircraft was tracked at 69 nautical miles (128 kilometres) from the ships but didn’t approach further.
An international treaty stipulates that states without a Black Sea coastline, such as the U.S. and Canada, can only have their warships there for 21 days. Russia, with its Black Sea coastline, is legally allowed to have any number of vessels operating in the sea.
The NATO ships are in the region to send a message to Russia’s government about its annexation of Crimea and activities in Ukraine.