Carter warned that such cases could lead to an armed conflict. He called the media coverage of the situation a classic “war of narratives” between Moscow and the West
The situation with the British destroyer Defender, which violated the Russian maritime border in the Black Sea, could lead to an “inappropriate escalation” of relations between London and Moscow. This was stated by the Chief of the Defense Staff of the United Kingdom, Nicholas Carter, to the Times.
“What keeps me awake at night is a miscalculation caused by an unjustified escalation. It may happen because of what we saw in the Black Sea on Wednesday, ” Carter said. “This time it didn’t happen, but this is just a reason to think carefully,” he added.
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According to the general, cases like what happened with Defender in the Black Sea can potentially escalate into an armed conflict. Carter called the coverage of this situation in the Russian and Western media a classic war of narratives. “And it is still unclear who won this battle,” the military commander stressed.
On June 23, the destroyer Defender, as reported by the FSB, violated the maritime border of Russia off the coast of Crimea. Patrol ships and Su-24M fighters were sent to intercept him. The ship did not respond to warnings and managed to go deep into Russian waters by 3 km. He left them only after a warning fire and four bombs dropped on the ship’s course.
The British Ministry of Defense stated that no one fired at the destroyer’s course, and the ship itself “carried out a peaceful passage in the territorial waters of Ukraine in accordance with the norms of international law”. However, later, the BBC journalist Jonathan Beale, who was on board, reported that the captain of the Defender deliberately decided to go deeper into the territorial waters of Russia, having put the weapons and crew on alert before that.
The ship’s captain, Vincent Owen, also admitted that there was shooting on the ship’s course, but the destroyer was out of reach of Russian guns. “This is the first time I have come so close to a Russian ship in my 21-year career. I suspect that the shooting was conducted from one of the Coast Guard ships, ” Owen said.
The Kremlin called the incident in the Black Sea a deliberate and prepared provocation. British Ambassador to Russia Deborah Bronnert was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and handed a note of protest.
The Telegraph reported that the final decision on the passage of Defender through Russian waters was made by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The route was proposed by Defense Minister Ben Wallace, but this was opposed by Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who warned that Moscow would use the incident to its advantage.
Johnson himself, in response, said that the strike group of British ships was on a completely expected route through international waters. He recalled that London does not recognize Crimea as part of Russia.
A spokesman for the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, said in connection with the incident that Moscow’s reports about the shooting at the destroyer’s course are an example of disinformation. However, later the FSB published a video showing shots fired from a Russian patrol car. The Russian Embassy in the United States called Kirby’s statements unfounded, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed that the FSB data completely refute the attempts of London and Washington to distort the essence of what happened.
Ryabkov also said that Russia will defend the inviolability of its borders, and if foreign partners “do not understand” the warnings, then the armed forces can ” bomb not just on the course, but also on the target.”
On Friday, the official representative of the Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, called the attempt of provocation off the coast of Crimea “an epic fiasco” and ” a fragrant stain on the reputation of the Royal Navy of Great Britain. He stressed that the destroyer Defender is “just a fat target for the anti-ship complexes of the Black Sea Fleet,” adding that London is well aware of this.