Russia Fires Warning Shots at British Warship in Black Sea

Russia used bombs and gunfire in “warning shots” against a British Navy destroyer in the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Wednesday.

A Su-24 aircraft dropped four bombs in waters near the Royal Navy destroyer H.M.S. Defender and a border patrol ship fired its gun to divert it after the British vessel entered Russia’s territorial waters off Crimea and refused to heed radio warnings, the ministry said, according to the Interfax news service.

Russia alleged the ship was 3 kilometers (2 miles) into its waters near Cape Fiolent, south of its naval base in Sevastopol, when the incident occurred around noon local time. The Defender reversed course and left Russian waters within four minutes of the bombing, the ministry said.

The U.K. government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia summoned the British military attache in Moscow to protest the incident, Interfax reported.

The U.K. and its allies don’t recognize Crimea as Russian territory after Moscow annexed the region from Ukraine in 2014.

Since then, Russia has deployed its planes and ships when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has sent ships into the area. At the height of tensions in early 2014, the U.S. accused Russia of flying a warplane dangerously close to a U.S. warship, an allegation Moscow denied.

The Defender on Tuesday left the Ukrainian port of Odessa, where officials signed agreements implementing the U.K.’s program to help Ukraine build up its navy, according to the ship’s Twitter account. Reached last October, the deal includes refurbishment of existing ships and delivery of new ones.