Russia summons UK envoy over warship intrusion

The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned UK Ambassador Deborah Bronnert and "strongly" protested against the violation by a British warship of Moscow's "territorial waters" in the Black Sea.

The Ministry in a statement on Thursday denounced the "provocative and dangerous actions" of the UK Navy destroyer HMS Defender in Russia's "territorial waters" on Wednesday, which went against the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, reports Xinhua news agency.

If such provocations happen again, "all responsibility for their possible consequences will rest entirely on the British side", the Ministry warned.

According to the Defence Ministry in Moscow, the warship "crossed the Russian border" in the northwestern part of the Black Sea at 11.52 a.m. on Wednesday after going 3 km beyond the sea border in the area of Cape Fiolent, and Russia's Black Sea Fleet Su-24M aircraft carried out "warning bombing" along the path of the destroyer.

In a statement later in the day, the British Ministry of Defence's Press Office said that "no warning shots have been fired at HMS Defender".

"The Royal Navy ship is conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law," it said.

The Press Office further said: "We believe the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise in the Black Sea and provided the maritime community with prior-warning of their activity."