Defense News military alliances Accomplished fact

British Destroyer HMS Defender targeted by Russian warning fire in Black Sea

23th June 2021

- Advertising -

This is a highly serious event between the Royal Navy anti-aircraft destroyer HMS Defender and the Russian naval and naval forces. According to Russian media, the naval forces of Moscow would have, on two occasions, opened fire on the British destroyer HMS Defender, whereas this one would have penetrated of 3 km the Russian territorial waters surrounding the Crimea. At 12:06, then at 12:08, warning shots were fired at the British vessel in order to force it to leave the area. At 12:19, a Russian naval air force Su-24M fighter-bomber would also have dropped 4 OFAB-250 bombs upstream of the ship, again to force it to leave the area. Also according to Russian media, HMS Defender left Russian territorial waters at 12:23.

For the moment, no official reaction, neither from Moscow, nor London, nor NATO has been published. However, this is undoubtedly the most serious naval incident between a NATO country and Russia since the end of the Cold War, and the consequences will undoubtedly be very significant, especially as both sides are already at loggerheads about Ukraine, Belarus, Syria and cyber attacks attributed to Russian hackers. It is therefore likely that the Western response to this maneuver will be very severe, to the point of forcing, for example, Germany to give up the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which we already know in the crosshairs of many American parliamentarians, and several European leaders.

Update: the British authorities have officially denied the Russian statements, having neither observed warning shots nor bomb drops near the ship. According to the British Defense Minister, the ship's crew heard gunfire, but assumed it was naval artillery training beyond the horizon. The British ambassador has been summoned by Moscow to protest what the Kremlin considers a dangerous maneuver in violation of its territorial waters.

- Advertising -