Russia warns Britain it will bomb ships next time
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) – Russia warned Britain on Thursday that it would bomb British naval vessels in the Black Sea if there were any further provocative actions by the British navy off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea.
Russia summoned the British ambassador in Moscow for a formal diplomatic scolding after the warship breached what the Kremlin says are its territorial waters but which Britain and most of the world say belong to Ukraine.
Britain said Russia was giving an inaccurate account of the incident. No warning shots had been fired and no bombs had been dropped in the path of the Royal Navy destroyer Defender, it said.
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Provocations against nuclear power endanger peace: Russian MP calls on UN, OSCE, PACE to condemn Britain over Black Sea incident
ByThe speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, called on international organizations to condemn the near-disastrous provocation by the British HMS Defender guided-missile destroyer off the coast of Crimea last week.
The British warship, attached to the carrier strike group accompanying the new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier now in the eastern Mediterranean, entered the Black Sea earlier this month with the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen, the two ships joining the USS Laboon guided-missile, interceptor-missile destroyer there.
Yesterday the USS Ross guided-missile destroyer also entered the sea to join the 32-nation, U.S.-led Sea Breeze exercise to begin on June 28. Dozens of other ships and 40 aircraft will participate in the almost two-week maneuvers.
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NATO openly identifies Russia as target of impending Black Sea war games
ByNATO’s military arm, Supreme Headquarters Allied Command Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium (marking its 70th anniversary this year), issued a press release on the Sea Breeze war games that will begin in the Black Sea on June 28. Coming as they do immediately on the heels on what may have proven a dangerous contretemps between a British guided-missile destroyer and a Russian border vessel and attack aircraft off the coast of Crimea, this year’s Sea Breeze, the 25th iteration, is fraught with more significance and will be monitored more closely on the Russian side than its predecessors.
The NATO fact sheet repeats what has been disclosed by the co-sponsor of the exercise, the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet, and other sources:
– That over 30 (32 by one count) nations will participate in the event, more than in any previous version
– That those nations are situated on all six populated continents
– That 5,000 troops, 32 ships, 40 aircraft and 18 special operations and diving units will be involved
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