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Updated June 23rd, 2021 at 20:11 IST

Decode this: UK 'doesn't recognise' Russia's claim of firing warning shots at its warship

UK's Ministry of Defence noted that no warning shots had been fired on HMS Defender by Russia and claimed that its vessel was 'conducting an innocent passage

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
UK
AP composite image | Image:self
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Hours after reports of a Russian warship firing at an encroaching British Navy destroyer were reported worldwide as breaking news, the United Kingdom has denied any such incident occurring and maintained that its vessel was passing through Ukrainian waters, as per reports. A Russian warship allegedly fired warning shots to deter a British Royal Navy warship from its waters near Crimea in the Black Sea. In a statement, the UK's Ministry of Defence noted that no warning shots had been fired on HMS Defender and claimed that its vessel was 'conducting an innocent passage along Ukrainian waters in accordance with the International law'. It further said that it refused to recognise claims that bombs were dropped by Russian fighter jets along the path of HMS Defender. 

Russian warship, jet fire shots in path of British Navy vessel

Reports quoted the Russian Defense Ministry claiming that the Russian Navy’s Su-24 attack aircraft dropped four bombs along the path of the British Royal Navy’s HMS Defender destroyer to “stop” it from further manoeuvres after a border patrol ship fired warning shots. The HMS Defender 'did not respond to a warning' about the use of weapons in response to its movements, the Defense Ministry was quoted as saying. The Ministry added that the HMS Defender left the Russian/Ukrainian/Crimean waters moments after the shots were fired. As per AP, the Russian Defence Ministry said it has summoned the UK military attache in Moscow to protest the British destroyer’s manoeuvre.

As per AP, HMS Defender, a Type 45 destroyer, is part of the UK Carrier Strike Group currently heading to the Indo-Pacific region. However, it was announced earlier this month that it would be temporarily breaking away from the group to carry out its “own set of missions” in the Black Sea. Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, a move that was not recognised by most countries in the world, gaining access to the peninsula's long Black Sea coastline. Russia has frequently chafed at NATO warships visits near Crimea, casting them as destabilising. NATO members Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria all are on the Black Sea, but warships from the US, UK and other NATO allies also have made increasingly frequent visits there in a show of support for Ukraine.

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Published June 23rd, 2021 at 20:11 IST

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