US officials have confirmed that two Russian warplanes flew “simulated attacks” this week near a US warship stationed in international waters near Russia. Two unarmed Russian Su-24 fighter jets came extremely close to the USS Donald Cook that they created “a wake in the water”, US officials say. Sky News reports: The overflights are said to have occurred on Monday and Tuesday and were described by US officials as “more aggressive than anything we’ve seen in some time”. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the incident “raises serious safety concerns” and the US is “concerned about this behaviour”. On 11 April, two Russian Su-24s made 20 passes of the US Navy ship, according to the officials, passing within 1,000 yards at an altitude of just 100ft. The American ship had just left the Polish port of Gdynia and was in the Baltic Sea about 70 nautical miles off Kaliningrad, said US officials. On 12 April, two Russian jets again buzzed the ship in what officials described as “simulated attack profile”. The aircraft were said to have swooped in the same flight mode that would have been used for an actual attack. In one of the incidents, a Russian jet [...]