BBC journalist on British ship HMS Defender says vessel made ‘deliberate’ move in passing through Russian waters ‘to make a point’
Jonny Tickle, RT.com, Jun 23 2021
A BBC journalist on board the British ship HMS Defender has revealed that the destroyer made a “deliberate” move in passing through Russian territorial waters “to make a point,” despite receiving warnings from the coast guard. The state broadcaster’s defense correspondent, Jonathan Beale, also noted that the ship’s crew heard shots, but they were believed to be “out of range.” In an audio report, Beale revealed that the ship purposely moved into the waters near Crimea, within 12 miles (19km) of the coast, through what the British called a “recognised international shipping lane.” The transit through Russian waters took over an hour, the correspondent said. “They have warned the ship not to go into Crimean territorial waters, claiming that they are Russian waters,” Beale said. “This would be a deliberate move to make a point to Russia,” Beale said. According to the journalist, “increasingly hostile warnings were issued over the radio” by the coast guard, including one that said, “If you don’t change course, I’ll fire.” As the HMS Defender left Russian waters, it was followed by two coast guard ships and around 20 planes, Beale said. The British maneuver was later blasted by the defense ministry as a “blatant violation of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.” Moscow’s view of the incident was soon contradicted by London, which instead claimed that “no warning shots have been fired at HMS Defender,” and the ship was simply “conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law.” This would appear to directly contradict Beale’s statement that the Royal Navy opted to make a “deliberate move to make a point to Russia.” Following the incident, the British ambassador to Russia was summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow. The HMS Defender is an air-defense destroyer, launched in 2009. Designed primarily for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare, it is currently conducting missions in the Black Sea. Before the recent incident, the ship was docked in the Ukrainian port of Odessa, where it played host to a signing ceremony, attended by British Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin and Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Alexander Mironyuk. London and Kiev agreed a deal for the UK to supply warships to Ukraine, with the British also pledging to help the country construct Black Sea naval bases.
British destroyer violates Russia’s border in Black Sea,
Russian ship & fighter jet respond with warning shots
RT.com, Jun 23 2021
HMS Defender in the Bosphorus, Jun 14 2021. Photo: Yoruk Isik/Reuters
A Russian patrol ship and fighter jet have fired warning shots after the British destroyer HMS Defender violated the country’s border in the Black Sea. The UK embassy’s defense attaché has been summoned by officials in Moscow. According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, the British naval ship entered the country’s territorial waters at 11:52 am local time and traveled 3 km inside the frontier, near Cape Fiolent, in Crimea. The peninsula is not recognized by the UK as Russian land, and London believes it to be illegally occupied Ukrainian territory. The Defense Ministry said:
At 12:06 and 12:08, a border patrol ship fired warning shots. At 12:19, a Su-24m aircraft performed a warning bombing (dropping 4 OFAB-250 bombs) ahead of the course of the HMS Defender.
Four minutes later, at 12:23, the destroyer left Russian territory.
Russian Warship, Jet Fire Warning Shots as British Destroyer Violates Maritime Borders in Black Sea
Ilya Tsukanov, Sputnik News, Jun 23 2021
A Russian warship has fired warning shots after the HMS Defender, a British Royal Navy destroyer, violated Russia’s maritime borders in the Black Sea, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced Wednesday. Along with the naval manoeuvres, a Russian Su-24M attack aircraft carried out a mock bombing run against the British warship, according to the ministry. According to the military, the British warship was warned that deadly force would be used if it violated Russia’s borders. The ship was said to have ignored the warning. Earlier in the day, Moscow urged the US and its NATO allies to stop military operations in the Black Sea region, calling instead for “multilateral efforts” aimed at maintaining stability, and for states in the region to resolve problems without unwanted “help” from outside powers. The MoD said in a press statement:
At 11:52 am on 23 June, the HMS Defender of the British Royal Navy, operating in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, violated the border and entered three kilometres into Russian territorial waters in the region of Cape Fiolent. At 12:06 and 12:08, a border patrol vessel carried out warning shots. At 12:19 a Su-24M carried out a warning bombing run using 4 OFAB-250 [hihgh-explosive fragmentation] bombs at the HMS Defender’s path of movement. At 12:23 the combined actions of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Forces of the FSB forced the HMS Defender to leave the territorial waters of the Russian Federation.
The Russian Defence Ministry has summoned the attache on defence matters from the British Embassy in Moscow over the incident. The Russian military began tracking the HMS Defender and the Royal Netherlands Navy’s HNLMS Evertsen frigate on 14 June after the pair of NATO warships entered the Black Sea. Earlier this month, the MoD indicated that it would be closely watching NATO’s annual ‘Sea Breeze’ drills, involving Ukrainian and alliance forces, including 4,000 servicemen, 40 warships, and 30 aircraft, once they kick off on Jun 28. The Russian military closely monitors any and all movement by NATO warships in the Black Sea, and has the technical means to watch all alliance activity in the body of water. The Russian military regularly reports on attempts by NATO aircraft and drones to test the country’s maritime frontiers and airspace in the sensitive region, with Russian aircraft scrambled whenever a foreign power’s military equipment comes too close to the border. The MoD has reported on thousands of maritime and aerial reconnaissance incidents along Russia’s borders in the Arctic, the Baltic and Black Seas and the Russian Far East in recent years, with bloc spying operations complimented by regular NATO and US drills and troop deployments near Russia’s borders. The Defence Ministry has concentrated special attention to ensuring the security of Crimea, with pro-Western authorities in Kiev and NATO nations refusing to recognise Russian jurisdiction over the peninsula.
Russians Bombed Ahead Of British Destroyer
South Front, Jun 23 2021
On Jun 23, the HMS Defender missile destroyer of the British Royal Navy blatantly violated Russian maritime frontier and entered Russian waters in the Black Sea. According to the Ministry of Defense, the British destroyer crossed the state border of Russia at 11:52 and entered the territorial sea near Cape Fiolent in the vicinity of Sebastopol. The ministry said in a statement received by RT:
The destroyer was previously warned about the use of weapons in case of violation of the state border of the Russian Federation. It did not respond to the warning.
The British Navy warship penetrated into Russian territorial waters for 3 km. That was not a navigation inaccuracy. In response, at 12:06 and 12:08, the Russian border patrol ship opened warning fire. As the British warship did not change its course, at 12:19, the Su-24m aircraft performed a warning bombing ahead the Defender’s course. According to the reports, Russian jets dropped OFAB-250 aerial bombs. The drop of bombs of full charge from a Russian attack aircraft apparently frightened the British, so that they did not dare to take any retaliatory actions and immediately left Russian waters. Such a flagrant violation of international maritime laws might likely be a failed provocation of the British Navy. There is a high probability that the British intended to provoke a coast guard ship to open machine-gun fire and hit Defender’s hull. This would allow the British to respond by hitting the Russian ship. Since the Russian fire did not hit the British destroyer, the British continued the provocation, going deeper into Russian territorial waters. The air bombing probably was not part of the British plan. Today’s accident is the first strike with the use of aircraft bombs on the course of a British ship carried out by Russian military forces in recent history. Even during the most acute phases of the Cold War confrontation between the US and the USSR, such provocations were rather an exception.
British provocation at Cape Fiolent
Colonel Cassad, Jun 23 2021
A British destroyer crossed the state border of Russia at 11: 52 and entered the territorial sea near Cape Fiolent for 3 km. The ministry said in a statement received by RT:
The destroyer was previously warned about the use of weapons in case of violation of the state border of the Russian Federation. It did not respond to the warning.
At 12:06 and 12:08, the border patrol ship performed warning firing, and at 12:19, the Su—24m aircraft performed “warning bombing” along the destroyer’s course. OFAB-250 aerial bombs were used. After that, at 12:23, the destroyer Defender left the borders of the territorial sea of the Russian Federation, the Defense Ministry said. Recording of negotiations with the destroyer. The British attache was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to give explanations about the incident. The provocation itself is obviously probing the reaction to the violation of Russian sovereignty over the Crimean territorial waters. In the absence of the toughest possible reactions, such provocations will continue. Ukraine, as usual, will act in such provocations as a springboard for such activities, and in some cases as a tool. The destroyer’s last port of call was Odessa. Of course, you can assess for yourself what Boris Johnson’s statements about “readiness to normalize relations with Russia after it changes its behavior” were worth. Britain, as a state hostile to the Russian Federation, does not intend to change its behavior at all. It is worth remembering that if he continued to drag around in Russian territorial waters, one of the next stages of the situation is an anti-ship missile in the side.
Niqnaq 