image Credit: nationalinterest.org
In a significant escalation on the Black Sea near the Crimean peninsula, A Russian fighter jet and guard ship have fired shots towards a British warship as a “warning”. According to reports in the Russian state media, Russia accused Britain of violating the border of the Russian annexed territory of Crimea.
On Wednesday, a Su-24 attack aircraft belonging to the Russian Navy dropped bombs in the way of the HMS Defender destroyer of Britain’s Royal Navy to prevent it from making more manoeuvres. Earlier, a border guard ship had also fired warning shots, according to Russia’s government-run news agency, TASS.
Sources in the Russian defence ministry also revealed that the British destroyer did not respond to the warning shots and left soon after the shots were fired on its path.
Following the flare-up in the Black Sea, the military attaché of the British embassy was summoned by the Russian Defence ministry.
Earlier in the month of June, the British Navy had revealed that the HMS Defender had moved away from its carrier strike group in order to carry out a mission in the Black Sea.
It may be recalled that Russia had forcibly annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in the year 2014. The move has been widely criticised by the western world which refused to recognise Crimea as Russian territory and imposed sanctions on the country.