24-06-21, 11:08
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Re: Russia Claims it Fired Warning Shots at Royal Navy Warship
Russia Claims Warning Shots Were Fired at Royal Navy Warship in The Black Sea
The Ministry of Defence has denied a report by the Russian defence ministry that warning shots and bombs were dropped nearby HMS Defender in the Black Sea
Daily Mirror UK, 24 JUN 2021
HMS Defender arrived for a port visit in Istanbul, Turkey on June 9, 2021 (Image: Shaun Roster / SWNS)
Russia claims it fired warning shots at a Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender in the Black Sea - but the UK's Ministry of Defence has denied any shots were fired.
According to the Russians the HMS Defender had entered Russian waters and a Russian jet dropped bombs in its path.
But a statement from the British Ministry of Defence reads: "No warning shots have been fired at HMS Defender.
"The Royal Navy ship is conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law.
"We believe the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise in the Black Sea and provided the maritime community with prior-warning of their activity.
"No shots were directed at HMS Defender and we do not recognise the claim that bombs were dropped in her path."
The Russians claim the HMS Defender left Russian waters soon afterwards, "having ventured as much as 3 kilometres (2 miles) inside".
The dispute is likely to revolve around the territorial waters of Crimea which was annexed from Ukraine by Russia, a move that saw Russia expelled from the then-G8.
The UK has never acknowledged Russian sovereignty of the region.
A statement from the Russian Ministry of Defence read: "At 11:52am on 23 June, the HMS Defender of the British Royal Navy, operating in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, violated the border and entered three kilometres into Russian territorial waters in the region of Cape Fiolent.
"At 12:06 and 12:08, a border patrol vessel carried out warning shots.
"At 12:19 a Su-24M carried out a warning bombing run using 4 OFAB-250 [high-explosive fragmentation] bombs at the HMS Defender's path of movement.
"At 12:23 the combined actions of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Forces of the FSB forced the HMS Defender to leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation."
The destroyer had been on operations in the Black Sea with American navy guided missile destroyer USS Laboon and Dutch warship HNLMS Evertsen in a show of support for Ukraine following Putin’s recent vast military build up close to Ukrainian borders.
Russia has said in recent days that it was closely monitoring HMS Defender, which is capable of carrying up to 56 Tomahawk cruise missiles at any one time.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that HMS Defender had been "shadowed" by Russian ships and had been "made aware" of training exercises in the area.
"This morning, HMS Defender carried out a routine transit from Odessa towards Georgia across the Black Sea," he said.
"As is normal for this route, she entered an internationally-recognised traffic separation corridor. She exited that corridor safely at 0945 BST.
"As is routine, Russian vessels shadowed her passage and she was made aware of training exercises in her wider vicinity."
The Russian Defence Ministry reportedly said the ship had violated Russia's border, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
An earlier image taken from Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender showed Russian frigate Admiral Essen "shadowing" USS Laboon.
Russia’s national defence control centre said: "Forces and systems of the [Russian] Black Sea Fleet have started monitoring the movements of the Royal Navy HMS Defender and the Dutch Navy's Evertsen frigate.”
The fleet’s former commander Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov said: ”Those ships will definitely not be welcome here.
“No-one is going to greet them as guests of honour, while their actions will definitely be monitored.
“They will be put under direct surveillance, technically, from the air and from outer space.”
The admiral added: "Their visits to the Black Sea have become too frequent.
“Their intensified presence has gone too far.
“They are complying with the Montreux Convention, but the activity of ships from non-Black Sea countries has never been so intensive before, even in the Soviet period.”
The latest flare-up comes amid months of tensions between Moscow and the west following a build-up earlier this year of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine.
Defiant UK Tells Putin 'You Won't Stop our Ships' After Royal Navy Destroyers’ Face-Off Near Crimea
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