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Russia said its troops fired warning shots at a British destroyer off the coast of Crimea on Wednesday, but Britain denied this statement.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that HMS Defender invaded 3 kilometers of the Black Sea waters that Russia claimed to have near the peninsula, which was annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The British Ministry of Defence denied directly firing at the ship.
British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said that HMS Defender crossed the Black Sea from Odessa to Georgia on Wednesday morning for a “routine crossing”.
“According to the normal conditions of this route, [the destroyer] Enter the internationally recognized traffic separation corridor. She left the corridor safely at 0945 British Summer Time. As usual, the Russian ships are tracking along her waterway to let her know that training exercises are conducted in her wider vicinity,” Wallace said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that after HMS Defender did not respond to the threat of firing by the Russian army, a coast guard vessel fired warning shots at it.
According to the ministry, a few minutes later, the Russian Black Sea Fleet rescued a Su-24M attack aircraft and dropped four high-explosive fragmentation bombs on the ship’s path before the ship left the waters.
The controversial claim comes at a time when tensions between Russia and the NATO alliance have increased. Most countries do not recognize Russia’s control over Crimea and its surrounding waters.
In recent years, NATO countries have sent a number of warships to visit the region to show their support for Ukraine, which has aroused criticism from Moscow.
In 2018, Russia seized three Ukrainian naval vessels trying to cross the peninsula through the Kerch Strait to reach the Kyiv-controlled area.
HMS Defender is part of the deployment of the British aircraft carrier strike group and is in the Black Sea this week as part of the implementation of the Ukrainian territorial integrity exercise.
The head of the Royal Navy met with the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine on the destroyer in Odessa on Tuesday and signed an agreement on Britain’s help to improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian navy.
The cooperation will include training Ukrainian naval personnel, establishing a new naval base and purchasing two Sandown-class minesweepers.
The Kiev Ministry of Defense said in a statement that Ukrainian special forces are conducting joint exercises on HMS Defender with their counterparts in the United States and Britain to practice “accidental seizure of enemy ships.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba responded to Moscow’s statement on Twitter, stating that “Russia’s acts of aggression and provocation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, its occupation and militarization of Crimea have affected Ukraine and The allies pose a persistent threat.”
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