The Dutch Ministry of Defense announced a new incident with a NATO warship in the Black Sea, Reuters reported.
According to the ministry, Russian fighter jets “harassed” the Dutch frigate “Evertsen” for 5 hours with fake attacks and jammed communications. Defense Minister Ank Baileveld called the actions of Russian fighter jets armed with air-to-surface missiles “irresponsible.”
This happened on June 24 – a day after the incident with the British destroyer “Defender” near Sevastopol. Russia then announced that its plane had dropped bombs on the ship’s course, and accused Britain of violating its territorial waters near annexed Crimea.
London explained that they had not violated international maritime law. Today, the Netherlands accused Russia of disrespecting free shipping. The frigate’s commander commented that the ship was in international waters and there were no grounds for aggressive action.
Evertsen – the frigate for command anti-aircraft tasks – is part of a British battle group around an aircraft carrier of the “Queen Elizabeth” class. It is patrolling the Black Sea with the British ship Defender, which also had a dangerous incident with the Russian army and coast guard in the same area.
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