Bthe British military decided that their Russian colleagues were conducting exercises in the Black Sea, and not trying to stop the ship. The British Defense Minister assured that the Defender was making a peaceful transition along an internationally recognized corridor
Destroyer HMS Defender
The British military has denied a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry that a warning fire was opened on the course of the destroyer HMS Defender, which violated the Russian border off the coast of Crimea.
“The British Navy ship made a peaceful passage through the territorial waters of Ukraine in accordance with international law,” the press service of the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
The British military department suggested that the Russian military conducted training firing in the Black Sea, while assuring that no warning shots were fired in the direction of the destroyer Defender.
No warning shots were fired at HMS Defender. No shots were fired in the direction of HMS Defender, and we do not recognize the allegations that bombs were dropped in its path, ” says a message posted on the British Defense Ministry’s Twitter page.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that a British destroyer violated the border in the area of Cape Fiolent in Crimea and did not respond to warnings, so the Russian patrol ship was forced to open a warning fire. In addition, the Su-24M bomber dropped several bombs in front of the intruder ship.
The head of the British Ministry of Defense, Ben Wallace, said that the Defender was making a “routine transition” across the Black Sea from Odessa to Georgia, moving along an “internationally recognized corridor”.
“As usual, the Russian ships were monitoring the passage of the Defender, and [the ship] received notification of an exercise nearby,” Wallace said.
HMS Defender is one of six guided missile defense destroyers built for the British Navy. It was commissioned into the British Navy in 2013. The basis of the Defender’s weapons is the PAAMS anti-aircraft missile system, designed to protect ship formations from attacks with missiles, including supersonic ones. In addition, the destroyer is equipped with a 114-mm gun and several anti-aircraft guns. The ship is also capable of carrying a company of Marines on board.
Defender entered the Black Sea in mid-June with the Dutch frigate Evertsen. Before that, the destroyer was in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the air group of the British aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth. On June 21, on board the Defender, which was in Odessa, the Minister for Defense Procurement of the United Kingdom, Jeremy Queen, and the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Alexander Mironyuk, signed a memorandum on the joint construction of warships and bases for the Ukrainian Navy.