WASHINGTON: A Russian anti-submarine destroyer chased off a U.S. submarine near the Kuril Islands, forcing it to leave the country's territorial waters, Moscow said Saturday, amid raging tensions over Ukraine.
A Pentagon spokesman, asked by AFP for comment, said only: "We are aware of press reporting about an alleged naval incident in the Pacific. We cannot confirm the details of these reports at this time."
A senior administration official said Saturday they had no additional information about the alleged incident.
The Russian defense ministry said that during planned military drills the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer detected a U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarine in Russian territorial waters near the Kuril Islands in the northern Pacific.
When the submarine ignored demands to surface, the crew of the frigate "used appropriate means" and the U.S. submarine left at full speed, the ministry said, without providing further details.
The ministry also said it had summoned the U.S. defense attaché in Moscow over the incident.
"In connection with the violation by the U.S. Navy submarine of the state border of the Russian Federation, the defense attaché at the U.S. embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian defense ministry," the defense ministry said.