The Russian military claimed that the Royal Navy destroyer Defender had allegedly strayed for about 20 minutes as much as 3 km (2 miles) into waters off the coast of Crimea, declared by the Russian Federation as being annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russian coastguard ships opened “a warning fire” and the bomber SU-24M dropped several bombs in the path of the destroyer, according to Russian military reports.
But Britain’s Ministry of Defense has denied that any warning shots were fired. "No shots were directed at the HMS Defender and we do not recognize the claim that bombs were dropped in her path.” Russian warships and military jets were only shadowing the destroyer, according to the British side.

At the same time, the official London does not deny that Defender sailing from Ukraine to Georgia did cross the territorial waters. But since London does not consider the Crimean peninsula a part of the Russian territory, Defender was in the Ukrainian sea and not Russian.

So, it’s been for the first time that the demonstration of political solidarity of the West with Ukraine has resulted in firing.

The HMS Defender was sailing from Odessa in southern Ukraine to Georgia.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale filed a report from the deck of the HMS Defender in the Black Sea.

“We have just finished crossing the territorial waters of the Russian-occupied Crimea. This was a deliberate move by the Royal Navy ship Defender, which was heading for Georgia. Command says he was following an internationally recognized sea route.

“At times, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender was accompanied by more than 20 Russian aircrafts, and there were warnings from the ships of the Russian coast guards. We heard shots too, but I think they were out of range”.

Beale said at times there had been more than 20 Russian aircraft above the ship, including fighter jets, and that a Russian coast guard vessel had maneuvered to try to force the destroyer to change course.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists that the HMS Defender was taking the shortest, most direct route across the Black Sea, from Odessa, in Ukraine, to Georgia. The British Prime Minister said on Thursday, June 24, it was "entirely right" for a British warship to travel through the waters off Crimea.

Johnson's comments came after Russia claimed yesterday that the British destroyer Defender had allegedly violated its borders.

"I think it was wholly appropriate to use international waters, and, by the way, the important point is that we don’t recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea," he said in televised remarks.

Johnson said Britain would defy the Kremlin, insisting that it was entirely right to “pursue freedom of navigation in the way that we did.” The British Prime Minister said on Thursday, “We don’t recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea, it was illegal. These are Ukrainian waters, and it was entirely right to use them to go from A to B.”
Commenting on the incident in the Black Sea involving Russia’s warning shots to stop the British warship, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba stressed that NATO and Ukraine need to seek qualitatively new relationship in the Black Sea Region.

The Ukrainian minister had this to say, “The clear proof of the Ukrainian position is the aggressive and provocative policy of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, its occupation and militarization of the Crimea ‒ all this is the source of a constant threat to Ukraine and its allies. That is why I insist that NATO should have qualitatively new relationship with Ukraine in the Black Sea.”

“The British Royal Navy is to be commended for its support of the principle of freedom of navigation in international waters”, retired General Ben Hodges, former commander of NATO forces in Europe, told the Russian service of BBC News. “Russian encroachments on Crimea are illegal and no one else recognizes them.”

When asked if such an action could be dangerous for the British ship, Hodges said, “I am sure that the Royal Navy and other NATO allies have thought of everything and developed a plan in case of different circumstances. This is part of an adequate response to Russia’s actions.”

“According to international law, Crimea, of course, is not Russian, since its annexation has not been recognized. The fact that ships continue to pass through its waters without provoking the Russians too much is an important way to show that the law is above the forceful seizure of land (and sea)”, Russian expert at the British Royal Institute for Defense Research, Mark Galeotti, stated.

Galeotti notes that the action of HMS Defender in the Black Sea was just a demonstration of support for Ukraine and a protest against the annexation of Crimea. The destroyer’s maneuver can be called “a voyage of non-recognition.”

For his part, independent Russian military observer Pavel Felgenhauer believes that the Russian military which does not like the regular international Sea Breeze exercise in the Black Sea and the presence of Western warships in the region carried out a planned provocation against the British warship.

Many experts argue that the Black Sea incident has been a provocation directed first of all against the Sea Breeze exercise.

This year, a total of 21 exercises will be held between June 28 and July 10, with the participation of military personnel from 32 countries. The Kremlin has demanded to cancel the exercise.

Besides, Russia appears to be very concerned over the activation of the British-Ukrainian military cooperation, particularly in the naval sphere. Interesting, it was on-board the HMS Defender that on June 21 Ukraine and Great Britain signed a memorandum about the joint construction of warships for the Ukrainian Navy. This document also provides for the participation of British specialists in the construction of two naval bases in Ukraine.

The memorandum is a part of the broad agreement on political cooperation, free trade and strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The agreement was signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last October in London.

One of the results of the cooperation agreement was a credit of 1.25 billion pounds Ukraine received for the development of its Armed Forces, particularly the Ukrainian Navy.

The newspaper Voice of Ukraine