Russian military aircraft circled HMCS Toronto in an 鈥渦nnecessarily provocative鈥� move over the Black Sea, the minister of national defence said Monday.
Two Russian fighter jets and a Russian surveillance aircraft 鈥渂uzzed鈥� the Canadian frigate on Sunday, CTV鈥檚 Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported.
One of the fighter jets came within 300 metres of the ship. HMCS Toronto locked its radar weapons system on the Russian aircraft, but took no further action because the planes were unarmed, sources say.
Although the move did not pose a threat to HMCS Toronto or its crew, Russia鈥檚 actions were 鈥渦nnecessarily provocative and risk escalating tensions even further,鈥� the office of Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said in a statement.
HMCS Toronto is currently operating in the Black Sea along with other NATO warships. At the time of the incident, the ship was en route to Operation Sea Breeze, a three-day, U.S.-led exercise with the Ukrainian navy.
The Black Sea borders Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and Romania, along with other countries.
One naval expert says it鈥檚 not surprising that Russia sent warplanes since it considers the Black Sea its backyard.
鈥淭here is always an opportunity for something stupid to happen and somebody get in too close or somebody do something provocative that would actually escalate the incident and get quite dangerous,鈥� Hugh Williamson told 麻豆影视.
