UK denies Russia fired warning shots at Royal Navy warship in waters off Crimea
Britain has accused Russia of "disinformation" after Moscow claimed its forces fired warning shots at a Royal Navy warship in waters off Crimea.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) denied shots were fired by a Russian patrol boat towards HMS Defender and that a warplane dropped four high explosive fragmentation bombsinitspathduringitspassage through the Black Sea.
Thebritishambassador,deborah Bronnert, was later summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow after Russia accused the Type 45 destroyerofstrayingintoitsterritorial waters.
But appearing before the Commons Defence Committee,defencesecretarybenwallace insisted the ship had stuck throughout to an internationally recognised "traffic separation route".
He acknowledged it had been "shadowed" by Russian forces during its transit from Odessa in southern Ukraine towards Georgia but played down the incident,sayingitwas"routine" practice.
However, a BBC reporter aboard the HMS Defender said at times there had been 20 Russian warplanes monitoring its progress and that the sound of gunfire had been heard, although it was believed to be out of range.
Defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said throughout its passage the crew had been on high alert, at one point donning their "white flash" protective equipment in case there was an exchange of fire.
He said a Russian coastguard vessel had attempted to make it change course but it stayed with the recognised shipping lane and that even after it was past Crimea, Russian jets continued "buzzing" it.
In a statement, the MOD said
the shots heard by the crew appeared to have related to a gunnery exercise of which the Russians had given advance noticetothemaritimecommunity. Mr Wallace said it was not the first time the Russians had madefalseclaimsaboutbritish warships operating in the area, having previously claimed to
have"chasedout"anothertype
45 destroyer, HMS Dragon.
"These are the things that come and go with Russia. Disinformation, misinformation is something that we have seen regularly. However, we will not shyawayfromupholdinginternational law and our rights on the sea."
The latest flare-up comes amid months of tensions
between Moscow and the west following a build-up earlier this year of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine. The Kremlin - which annexed Crimea in 2014 - has been riled by the movement of Nato warships in the Black Sea seen as offering support to Ukraine.
HMS Defender is part of the UK Carrier Strike Group currently
heading to the Indopacific 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.
In a statement, the Russian Defence Ministry said: "The destroyer was warned in advancethatweaponswouldbe
fired in case of a violation of the Russian state border. It disregarded the warning. As a result of joint actions of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service, HMS Defender left theterritorialseaoftherussian Federation."