Tension spikes over Black Sea warship incident

MOSCOW/LONDON－Russia said on Wednesday it fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of waters in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula.

But Britain rejected Russia's account of the incident. Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday no shots were fired on its destroyer, HMS Defender, in the Black Sea and Russia's explanation of the incident was "predictably inaccurate".

"No shots were fired at HMS Defender," Raab told reporters in Singapore during a visit to discuss trade deals. "The Royal Navy ship was conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters. We were doing so in accordance with international law and the Russian characterization is predictably inaccurate."

Crimea was declared to be part of Russia following a local referendum in March 2014. But Kiev and Western countries rejected the results. Russia-Ukraine relations have been filled with disputes and tensions ever since.

Moscow claims areas around the peninsula's coast to be Russian waters. Western countries deem the Crimea part of Ukraine and reject Russia's claim to the seas around it.

Russia's Defence Ministry, quoted by Interfax news agency, said the British destroyer left Russian waters soon after Russia fired the warning shots. A Russian bomber dropped four high-explosive fragmentation bombs in its path, it said.

The Russian ministry said the British ship had ventured as far as 3 kilometers into Russian waters near Cape Fiolent, a landmark on Crimea's southern coast near the port of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet.

"The destroyer had been warned that weapons would be used if it trespasses the border of the Russian Federation. It did not react to the warning," the ministry said.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday that Moscow will be ready to fire to hit intruding warships in the wake of the Black Sea incident.

He gibed that the British navy should rename its destroyer from "Defender" to "Aggressor" and warned that "those who try to test our strength are taking high risks".

As London seeks to play down the incident, military experts said whether or not the details of the Russian or British accounts were accurate, the incident appeared to represent an escalation in confrontation between the West and Russia over disputed sea lanes.

"Innocent passage" is an internationally recognized right for ships to sail through territorial waters of a country provided they mean no harm.

Russia's Foreign Ministry called the passage of the British warship through the area an act of "blatant provocation" and said it would summon the British ambassador over the incident.

This week, Western countries are conducting naval exercises known as Sea Breeze in the Black Sea. Hours before the incident, Russia's embassy in Washington had called on the United States and allies to cancel them.

Agencies - Xinhua