With Russia saying that it is ready to fire warships into the territorial waters of Ukraine's the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow has captured in 2014, Moscow and London continue giving contradictory versions of an event in the Schwarzmeer region.
On 24 June, the Russian Foreign Minister, Maria Zakharov, said that the event, which transpired a day earlier, was summoned by British Board Ambassador Deborah Bronner and was awarded a strong demarche in diplomatic terms.
Moscow said its naval vessel fired warnings and a military jet dropped bombs on the path of HMS Defender the British destroyer, forcing him to divert course from the region near Sevastopol's Crimean city.
The British Defense Ministry rejected the fire of or on HMS Defender in Russian waters, emphasizing its trip to Georgia at the east end of the Black sea in Ukrainian waters.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula by March 2014, sending soldiers there and holding a popular vote denouncing that at least 100 countries were illegitimate after the wave of public demonstrations dropped by Ukrainian Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych.
During a briefing with media during a visit to Singapore, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab reaffirmed that 'no shot was fired' as the British ship 'was carrying out innocent transits into the territorial waters of Ukraine.'
"We did so under international law, and it was a predictable inaccuracy of Russian characterization." "
The British version of events was labeled "barbaric bullshit," Zakharova frankly.
Meanwhile, Dimitri Peskov, Kremlin Speaker, warned that Russia is willing to take any kind of action on "provoked action," while Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, has raised the tone, and threatening with "departure bombing" if such situations happen again.
The international maritime law allows a vessel to pass through the territorial waters of another State under innocent transit so long as the safety of the vessel is not affected.
In addition to tensions, Russia believes the Russian seas to be territories around the captured Crimean shore. Western countries consider that Crimea is part of Ukraine and deny the claim of Russia.
For ages the Black Sea has been a flashpoint between Russia and her competitions such as Turkey, France, Britain, and the United States, using Russia to spread its might across the Mediterranean.
Member of the British Cabinet George Eustice claimed on June 24 that in a televised interview, the Russian acquisition of Crimea would allow his country's warships to sail again across the controversial waters around the country.
"These were Ukrainian territorial seas," said Eustice, "we never allowed the annexation to Crimea.
