[3] The United States, starting from 1979, conducted a freedom of navigation program as the US government believed that many countries were beginning to assert jurisdictional boundaries that far exceeded traditional claims.
[3] At the time, the Soviet Union recognized the right of innocent passage for warships in its territorial waters solely in designated sea lanes.
[8] On March 13, Yorktown and Caron entered the Soviet territorial waters and sailed west along the southern Crimean Peninsula, approaching within 6 nautical miles (11 km) of the coast.
[1] The Soviet Union stated that the US "violation" of its territorial waters "was of a demonstrative, defiant nature and pursued clearly provocative aims".
[1] Replying to the Soviet note verbale about the incident, the US stated that "the transit of the USS Yorktown and USS Caron through the claimed Soviet territorial sea on March 13, 1986, was a proper exercise of the right of innocent passage, which international law, both customary and conventional, has long accorded ships of all states".