24 December 2020. RT: Rockets, guns and missiles lit up the Sea of Japan as part of Russian naval tests of a newly refitted frigate, and amid escalating hostilities with US vessels in the remote Far East region.
In footage released by the Ministry of Defense on Thursday, the newly modernized Marshal Shaposhnikov, an Udalay-class naval destroyer, let off its A-190 artillery unit, as well as its 30mm six-barrel cannon and at least two naval torpedoes in the Peter the Great Bay.
The bay has been a hotspot for tensions in recent weeks after the American submarine-hunter, USS John S McCain, was picked up two kilometers inside Russian waters. A Russian destroyer was sent to intercept it, and threatened to ram the vessel if it didn’t return to international waters.
Washington insists that much of the bay does not rightfully belong to Russia, and maintains that it was conducting a so-called “freedom of navigation” operation, “challenging Russia’s excessive maritime claims.” The incident sparked a diplomatic spat and Moscow has since upped its military presence in the region.
The McCain made headlines again this week when Chinese air and naval assets intercepted it close to a chain of disputed islands in the South China Sea, with the People’s Liberation Army claiming that they had “expelled” the ship from the area.
