The British destroyer left Russian waters only after warning fire. On the course of the ship’s movement, four bombs were dropped from the plane
Destroyer HMS Defender
A Russian patrol ship in the Black Sea opened warning fire on the British guided missile destroyer Defender, and a Su-24M aircraft dropped bombs on its course. This is reported by the Russian Defense Ministry, TASS reports.
The British destroyer violated the territorial border in the Black Sea, in the area of the Crimean Cape Fiolent, going 3 km beyond it, and did not respond to preliminary warnings about violating the state border.
In order to stop the advance of the British ship, the Su-24M aircraft performed a warning bombing along its course, dropping four OFAB-250T high-explosive bombs.
The Defender then left Russian territorial waters. The Defense Ministry points out that this was due to the joint work of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Service of the FSB of Russia.
HMS Defender is one of six Type 45 destroyers of the British Navy. It was launched in 2009. The length of the ship is 152m, the speed is about 30 knots (55 km/h). The destroyer is equipped with a long-range radar station, anti-aircraft artillery, and also has the ability to place missile weapons.
The destroyer HMS Defender entered the Black Sea on June 14, followed by the Dutch air defense frigate HNLMS Evertsen (“Everton”), the Russian National Defense Control Center reported. From that day on, the Black Sea Fleet began tracking the actions of these ships.
Shortly before the Ministry of Defense reported the incident with the violation of the Russian border by a destroyer on June 23, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, said at a security conference in Moscow that the activity of the NATO naval forces had significantly increased near the Russian borders.
“Almost on a permanent basis, ships equipped with high-precision long-range missile weapons operate in the Black and Baltic Seas, flights of reconnaissance, patrol and strike aircraft, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles are carried out,” he said (quoted by TASS). Gerasimov added that the actions of the US ships and their allies are “clearly provocative”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also said that Russia is concerned about the build-up of NATO’s military potential and infrastructure near the Russian borders. He noted that the North Atlantic Alliance refuses to engage in dialogue on de-escalating tensions and reducing the risk of unpredictable incidents, but expressed hope that “common sense” and the desire to develop constructive relations with Moscow will prevail.