Reports by CNN Turkish that Russian warplanes on at least four separate occasions buzzed the American destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Eastern Med have been denied by the Russians. Indeed that would have been unlikely since until recently Cook was anchored in Cyprus, quite a distance from Syria.

A different, earlier incident where the Russians buzzed a French warship which was much closer appears to be true however. Reuters:

A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday. The incident, first reported by Le Point magazine, comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian relief agency. France, the United States and their allies are considering a coordinated military response after accusing the Russia-backed Syrian government of being behind the attack. Damascus and Moscow have denied a chemical attack took place. The weekly magazine said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed. The Aquitaine is equipped with 16 cruise missiles and 16 surface-to-air missiles. It is currently operating off Lebanese shores alongside U.S. ships as part of France’s contingent fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

Aquitaine which Reuters calls a destroyer is actually a helicopter-carrying frigate. It is the only French ship in theater capable of firing cruise missiles and would therefore be part of the anticipated US-French-British attack on Syria.

The French deemed the overfly was conducted at an alarmingly low attitude and tried to complain to the Russians who did not bother picking up the phone:

“The flight took place several days ago,” a French naval source said, adding that France had contacted Russian authorities over the matter. “Passes by military aircraft over warships are things that happen at sea. When it is deemed too close, the opposing party is notified,” the source said. The Russian air force has already carried out such “aggressive” flights over Western warships in the past. In April 2016 two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, so low they created wake in the water. Phone calls to the Russian defence ministry in Moscow were not answered after business hours on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Russian jets over Syria are being spotted carrying anti-ship missiles:

A Russian Su-34 fighter jet armed with what looks like Kh-35 cruise anti-ship missiles has just been spotted over the Syrian city of Tartus. According to reports from local sources, this is not the only Russian jet armed with Kh-35 cruise missiles, which are now flying in this part of Syria and in eastern Mediterranean. The Kh-35U is a jet-launched version of the Kh-35 subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. It has a HE fragmentation shaped charge warhead and the operational range of at least 300km.

Indeed a real Russian strike on French or American ships would not take place at close range. Instead the Russians would fire weapons like the Kh-35 from afar. </s> The Russian Defense Ministry announced it is halting cooperation with its US counterparts in the framework of the Memorandum on the Prevention of Incidents and Ensuring Air Safety in Syria following the coalition’s downing of a Syrian warplane.

The ministry has demanded a thorough investigation by the US military command into the incident with the Syrian government military jet, with the results to be shared with the Russian side.

“In the areas of combat missions of Russian air fleet in Syrian skies, any airborne objects, including aircraft and unmanned vehicles of the [US-led] international coalition, located to the west of the Euphrates River, will be tracked by Russian ground and air defense forces as air targets,” the Russian Ministry of Defense stated.

Downing the military jet within Syrian airspace “cynically” violates the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russian military said.

The actions of the US Air Force are in fact “military aggression” against Syria, the statement adds.

The ministry emphasized that Russian warplanes were on a mission in Syrian airspace during the US-led coalition’s attack on the Syrian Su-22, while the coalition failed to use the communication line to prevent an incident.

“The command of the coalition forces did not use the existing communication channel between the air commands of Al Udeid Airbase (in Qatar) and the Khmeimim Airbase to prevent incidents in Syrian airspace.”

The ministry considers the move “a conscious failure to comply with the obligations under the Memorandum on the Prevention of Incidents and Ensuring Air Safety in Syria,” and is thus halting cooperation with the US within the memorandum framework as of June 19, the statement concluded.

Earlier Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov condemned the attack, branding it an act of aggression which actually helped the terrorists the US is fighting against.

The US-led coalition downed the Syrian government warplane on Sunday. At the moment of the attack the jet was carrying out operations against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) some 40km from Raqqa, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The pilot ejected from the plane above IS-controlled territory and is still missing. </s> MOSCOW: Warplanes from the US-led coalition operating over Syrian airspace west of the Euphrates River will be treated as potential targets, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday, a day after the US military shot down a Syrian air force jet.

Russia, Syria’s main ally, also said it is suspending a cooperative pact with the US aimed at maintaining airspace safety in Syria, BBC reported. The latest spat came a day after an American F18E Super Hornet fighter jet downed on Sunday a Syrian SU-22 which was targeting areas held by a US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab coalition militia fighting the Islamic State in the city of Raqqa.

“Any aircraft, including planes and drones belonging to the international coalition operating west of the Euphrates river, will be tracked by Russian anti-aircraft forces in the sky and on the ground and treated as targets,” the ministry said. – </s> PARIS (Reuters) - A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday.

The incident, first reported by Le Point magazine, comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian relief agency.

France, the United States and their allies are considering a coordinated military response after accusing the Russia-backed Syrian government of being behind the attack. Damascus and Moscow have denied a chemical attack took place.

The weekly magazine said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed.

The Aquitaine is equipped with 16 cruise missiles and 16 surface-to-air missiles. It is currently operating off Lebanese shores alongside U.S. ships as part of France’s contingent fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

“The flight took place several days ago,” a French naval source said, adding that France had contacted Russian authorities over the matter.

“Passes by military aircraft over warships are things that happen at sea. When it is deemed too close, the opposing party is notified,” the source said.

The Russian air force has already carried out such “aggressive” flights over Western warships in the past.

In April 2016 two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, so low they created wake in the water.

Phone calls to the Russian defence ministry in Moscow were not answered after business hours on Tuesday. </s> PARIS - A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday.

The incident, first reported by Le Point magazine, comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian relief agency.France, the United States and their allies are considering a coordinated military response after accusing the Russia-backed Syrian government of being behind the attack. Damascus and Moscow have denied a chemical attack took place.The weekly magazine said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed.The Aquitaine is equipped with 16 cruise missiles and 16 surface-to-air missiles. It is currently operating off Lebanese shores alongside U.S. ships as part of France's contingent fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq."The flight took place several days ago," a French naval source said, adding that France had contacted Russian authorities over the matter."Passes by military aircraft over warships are things that happen at sea. When it is deemed too close, the opposing party is notified," the source said.The Russian air force has already carried out such "aggressive" flights over Western warships in the past.In April 2016 two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, so low they created wake in the water. Phone calls to the Russian defense ministry in Moscow were not answered after business hours on Tuesday.

var cont = `Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>



`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> PARIS: A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday.

The incident, first reported by Le Point magazine, comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian relief agency.

France, the United States and their allies are considering a coordinated military response after accusing the Russia-backed Syrian government of being behind the attack. Damascus and Moscow have denied a chemical attack took place.

The weekly magazine said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed.

The Aquitaine is equipped with 16 cruise missiles and 16 surface-to-air missiles. It is currently operating off Lebanese shores alongside U.S. ships as part of France's contingent fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

"The flight took place several days ago," a French naval source said, adding that France had contacted Russian authorities over the matter.

"Passes by military aircraft over warships are things that happen at sea. When it is deemed too close, the opposing party is notified," the source said.

The Russian air force has already carried out such "aggressive" flights over Western warships in the past.

In April 2016 two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, so low they created wake in the water.

Phone calls to the Russian defence ministry in Moscow were not answered after business hours on Tuesday. </s> PARIS (Reuters) - A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday.

The incident, first reported by Le Point magazine, comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian relief agency.

France, the United States and their allies are considering a coordinated military response after accusing the Russia-backed Syrian government of being behind the attack. Damascus and Moscow have denied a chemical attack took place.

The weekly magazine said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed.

The Aquitaine is equipped with 16 cruise missiles and 16 surface-to-air missiles. It is currently operating off Lebanese shores alongside U.S. ships as part of France's contingent fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

"The flight took place several days ago," a French naval source said, adding that France had contacted Russian authorities over the matter.

"Passes by military aircraft over warships are things that happen at sea. When it is deemed too close, the opposing party is notified," the source said.

The Russian air force has already carried out such "aggressive" flights over Western warships in the past.

In April 2016 two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, so low they created wake in the water.

Phone calls to the Russian defence ministry in Moscow were not answered after business hours on Tuesday. </s> PARIS - A Russian warplane this weekend flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday.

The incident, first reported by Le Point magazine, comes as tensions mount between Russia and Western nations following a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria on April 7. At least 60 people were killed in the attack, according to a Syrian relief agency.France, the United States and their allies are considering a coordinated military response after accusing the Russia-backed Syrian government of being behind the attack. Damascus and Moscow have denied a chemical attack took place.The weekly magazine said the Russian plane had flown over frigate Aquitaine over the weekend and was fully-armed.The Aquitaine is equipped with 16 cruise missiles and 16 surface-to-air missiles. It is currently operating off Lebanese shores alongside U.S. ships as part of France's contingent fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq."The flight took place several days ago," a French naval source said, adding that France had contacted Russian authorities over the matter."Passes by military aircraft over warships are things that happen at sea. When it is deemed too close, the opposing party is notified," the source said.The Russian air force has already carried out such "aggressive" flights over Western warships in the past.In April 2016 two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes near a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, so low they created wake in the water. Phone calls to the Russian defense ministry in Moscow were not answered after business hours on Tuesday. </s> The first group of Russian war planes has left Russia's Hmeymim air base in Syria and begun the long journey home, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

The group included Sukhoi-34 fighter-bombers. The ministry said each group will be led home by either a Tupolev-154 passenger plane or an Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft carrying engineers, technical personnel, and cargo.
Russian warplanes provide air cover for the offensive for the first time.