Russia’s chilling warning to navy

A HIGH-RANKING Russian security official has told Britain not to sail its warships near disputed Crimea and chillingly warned Royal Navy sailors ‘will get hurt’ if it does.

Mikhail Popov, deputy secretary of the Kremlin’s Security Council, hit out weeks after the Russian coastguard fired warning shots near HMS Defender claiming it had entered ‘Russian’ waters.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has declared the waters around it belong to Moscow – despite most countries continuing to recognise the peninsula as Ukrainian.

British officials have insisted that the Portsmouth-based Type 45 destroyer was operating in Ukrainian waters.

But in an interview with the state Rossiiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, Mr Popov said Britain’s behaviour during the recent Black Sea stand-off and its subsequent reaction to the incident was bewildering.

In particular, he criticised suggestions from PM Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab, the foreign minister, the worrying incident could be repeated in the future.

‘Similar actions will be thwarted with the harshest methods in future by Russia regardless of the violator’s state allegiance,’ said Popov

‘We suggest our opponents think hard about whether it’s worth organising such provocations given the capabilities of Russia’s armed forces.’

He then issued a chilling warning to those serving on board Royal Navy ships.

‘It’s not the members of the British government who will be in the ships and vessels used for provocational ends,’ he added.