OTTAWA—Russia is denying that its aircraft did a provocative flyby over a Canadian warship sailing in the Black Sea this week.

On Monday, Canadian defence officials said a Russian aircraft — one of three in the area — flew low over HMCS Toronto as it sailed in the Black Sea on Sunday, a move condemned as “provocative” by Defence Minister Rob Nicholson.

But on Tuesday, Russia defence staff rejected claims their aircraft buzzed the frigate, saying the aircraft were on a routine flight.

“The route of Russian Air Force planes crossed the area where the Canadian Navy’s Toronto was, but without approaching the foreign warship,” Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman Igor Konashenkov told ITAR-TASS.

The news report said the aircraft were on a scheduled flight over neutral waters near the Russian state border, he added. “All flights were and are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of air space over neutral waters,” Konashenkov said.

According to the Canadian version of events, the frigate HMCS Toronto was sailing in the Black Sea, home to a large Russian naval fleet, when it was approached by three Russian aircraft early Sunday.

The aircraft circled the ship, flying about 300 metres above the water and about 500 metres away from the vessel, according to a Defence Department source.

“While the Russian military aircraft that circled the HMCS Toronto did not in any way pose a threat to the Canadian ship, their actions were unnecessarily provocative and risk escalating tensions even further,” Nicholson said in a statement Monday.

The frigate is taking part in a military exercise known as Sea Breeze, involving 12 ships in all from Ukraine, the United States, Romania and Turkey.

The exercise has taken on extra sensitivity because of ongoing tensions between the West and Moscow over Russia’s military actions against Ukraine.

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