The destroyer Ross has been busy irking the Russians in the Black Sea these days.

On Saturday, Russian state media began proclaimeding that Russian fighters forced the Ross to alter course after actions they deemed provocative. But the U.S. in response to had intercepted the Ross steaming into Russian waters, forcing the destroyer to alter its course. The U.S. vehemently denied the Ross it was encroacheding on Russian territorial waters and said the encounter in international waters was generally professional.

The incident is the latest sign of tensions between Russia and the West, and highlights the ongoing, "eyeball-to-eyeball" confrontations between a newly assertive Russian military and the U.S. Navy, seeking to assert its right to operate in international air and sea space.sign of the high stakes encounter between Russia and the West, and yet another in a series of continued tensions with Russia and highlights the ongoing "eyeball-to-eyeball" confrontations between a newly assertive Russian military and the U.S. Navy, seeking to assert its right to operate in international air and sea space. wherever it wants.

The kerfuffle in the Black Sea was a stunt designed to show that Russia can deter the U.S. from encroaching on its forces in the Crimea, even though the facts of the encounter don't seem to match the initial Russian reports, said Jerry Hendrix, a retired captain who now works as an analyst with the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C.

And iIt was an effective stunt because the U.S. took too long time to review the run-in before denying Russia's claims of forcing that it forced the Ross to change course, Hendrix added.

"We're a bit like lawyers," Hendrix said. "Before we make a response we are going to go back, gather the facts, look at the tape and then issue our response. But by the time we do, 24 to 48 hours later, Russia has already established the narrative: The ship was going to penetrate Russia's sovereign waters and the Russian military gloriously forced it to alter course."

The U.S. Navy has stepped up its Black Sea patrols since the Ukrainian revolution and subsequent Russian takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in early 2014, but the Navy insists it has the right to do so and is acting in accordance with international law.

Hendrix said the situation in the Black Sea has remained relatively static, in terms of U.S. patrols of the Black Sea but Russia was seemed to be using the opportunity to trying to score propaganda points off of the confrontation with the Ross.

"Nothing really has changed except the Russians are trying to change the narrative," he said.

On Saturday, Russian state news agency media outlet RIA Novosti ran a story quoting a "military source" that said the Ross was acting aggressively.

"The crew of the ship acted provocatively and aggressively, which concerned the operators of monitoring stations and ships of the Black Sea Fleet," a Russian military source told RIA Novosti, adding that the ship then deviated from its course and returned to "neutral waters."

But on SundayMonday, 6th Fleet denied Russian claims that it had caused the Ross to back down.

"At no time did Ross act aggressively nor did she deviate from her planned operations," a 6th Fleet release read. "The conduct of her crew has been and continues to be professional."

A video posted by U.S. 6th Fleet to YouTube on Monday showed the SU-24 Fencer, wings clean, making a close pass down the destroyer's starboard side.

The incident harkened hankered back to an incident last April when a Fencer made several passes as close as 1,000 yards from the destroyer Donald Cook, an action deemed "provocative" and "unprofessional" by the Pentagon.

The Ross run-in is a further sign that the strategic picture in Europe has shifted dramatically since the Ukraine revolution, said Dan Goure, an analyst at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Virginia-based think tankthe Lexington Institute.

"This game has changed and it's changed very quickly," Goure said. "We are seeing an increase in these incidents, several fold each year."

About David B. Larter

David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.

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