No shots were fired on a British destroyer in the Black Sea and Russia’s explanation of the incident was “predictably inaccurate,” British Secretary of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab said yesterday.
Russia on Wednesday said it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of the Royal Navy destroyer the HMS Defender to chase it out of waters Moscow claims in the Black Sea off the Crimean Peninsula.
“No shots were fired at HMS Defender,” Raab told reporters in Singapore during a visit to discuss trade deals.
Photo: Reuters
“The Royal Navy ship was conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters. We were doing so in accordance with international law and the Russian characterization is predictably inaccurate,” he added.
Britain has played down the incident.
Such gunnery exercises were not particularly abnormal, British Secretary for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice told Sky yesterday.
“I don’t think there is anything in this particular event that people should get too carried away by,” Eustice said.
“I don’t think there were warning shots, there was a gunnery exercise that was taking place, and it’s not uncommon for the Russians to do this in this area. The incident is not particularly abnormal in that sense,” he added.
Russia seized and annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, and considers areas around its coast to be Russian waters. Western countries deem the Crimea to be part of Ukraine and reject Russia’s claim to the seas around it.
The BBC released footage from the ship showing a Russian officer warning that he would shoot if the vessel did not change course. Russia released footage filmed from a Russian SU-24 bomber flying close to the Defender.
Russia said the British ship had ventured as far as 3km into Russian waters near Cape Fiolent, a landmark on Crimea’s southern coast near the port of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea fleet.
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