Sharjah24 – Reuters: The British warship HMS Defender has been involved in a confrontation with Russian forces within the 12 mile or 19 kilometer limit of Crimea's territorial waters, according to the BBC. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in a move other nations considered illegitimate.
BBC footage shows Russian jets swooping down alongside the British vessel, and contains the sounds of gunshots in the distance, but details outside of these are contested. The U.K. Ministry of Defence's position is that the HMS Defender was traveling through an internationally recognized transit route and Russian vessels shadowed it in a routine manner, according to the BBC. It says any shots fired were part of a Russian gunnery exercise nearby.
Russia on the other hand says it fired warning shots and dropped bombs to force the British Royal Navy destroyer to change route, accusing the ship of violating its borders.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows for what it describes as 'innocent passage' through a state's territorial sea and according to the BBC Britain's case is that its vessel was merely taking the most direct route between its starting point in Odessa, Ukraine, and its destination, in Georgia.
Russia contests this, with its U.K. embassy tweeting that the HMS Defender's passage was a deliberate provocation, rather than a legitimate routine transit. In January this year it reacted similarly strongly when two U.S. Arleigh Burke class destroyers entered the Black Sea. Tensions between Russia and NATO members have risen considerably in recent months, with Russian President Vladimir Putin telling NBC two weeks ago that relations between Russia and the U.S. were at their lowest point in years.
Details recently emerged of the Russian Navy conducting some of its largest drills in the central Pacific since the end of the Cold War, according to The Drive.
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