MOSCOW: Russia on Wednesday said it fired warning shots at a British navy destroyer in the Black Sea after it violated the country’s territorial waters, but the UK denied the incident had occurred.
Incidents involving Western aircraft and ships are not uncommon at Russia’s borders, especially during heightened tensions with Washington, Brussels and London, but rarely result in open fire.
The HMS Defender “was given a preliminary warning that weapons would be used if the state borders of the Russian Federation were violated. It did not react to the warning,” the Russian defence ministry said, according to Interfax news agency.
The ministry added that “a border patrol ship fired warning shots” and a Su-24 aircraft dropped four bombs along the destroyer’s path. It said that the ship then left Russian waters.
But the UK’s defence ministry swiftly denied that the incident had happened.
“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,” the ministry said.
London said it believed Russia was “undertaking a gunnery exercise” and had provided prior warning of its activity.
After announcing that it had fired warning shots at HMS Defender — a T45 destroyer — Russia’s defence ministry summoned Britain’s military attache, Interfax reported. The defence ministry then released a statement denouncing the “dangerous actions” of HMS Defender, describing the incident as a “gross violation of the UN convention” and calling on London to conduct an investigation.
Meanwhile, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Britain’s ambassador to Russia would be summoned over the incident.
“We qualify this as a gross British provocation that runs counter to international law and Russian law,” she said.
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