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The incident marked the first time since the Cold War that Moscow has used live ammunition to deter a NATO warship, reflecting the increased risk of a military incident amid rising Russia-West tensions.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the Russian warship fired warning shots after the British missile destroyer Defender ignored a notification of an intrusion in Russian territorial waters. It is said that Russian Su-24 bombers also dropped four bombs in front of the British ship to persuade it to change course.
“A few minutes later, the British warship left Russian waters,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said AP, Wednesday (23/6/2021).
Also read: Putin warns of risk of new arms race in Europe
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had summoned the British military attache in Moscow to protest the maneuvers of the British destroyer.
The UK Ministry of Defense said it was aware of the report but did not immediately comment.
The HMS Defender, a Type 45 destroyer, is part of a British attack group currently headed for the Indo-Pacific region. However, it was announced earlier this month that it would temporarily separate 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 not recognized by most countries in the world, gaining access to the peninsula’s long Black Sea coastline. Russia has often been irritated by visits by NATO warships near Crimea, seeing them as fueling instability.
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