Moscow. June 25. INTERFAX-The Russian military is calling on the United States and Great Britain not to take risky actions when sending ships to the Black Sea, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
"We call on the Pentagon and the command of the British naval forces, which are sending their warships to the Black Sea, not to test their fate in vain, following the lead of the Ukrainian "admirals of the mosquito fleet", but to be guided by reason, " Konashenkov said on Friday, commenting on the Pentagon's statements about the incident with the destroyer Defender in the Black Sea.
"Who better than the former Rear Admiral Kirby is well aware that for the Russian armed forces reliably guarding the security of the Crimea, the Defender destroyer anywhere in the Black Sea is just a fat target for the anti-ship complexes of the Black Sea Fleet," Konashenkov said
"The British Defense Ministry said yesterday that there was no shooting at the British ship, it's just Russian disinformation. This is another example that Russia is trying to spin events out of what did not happen," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said earlier during a briefing.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Russian military and border guards opened warning fire on the course of the destroyer Defender, which violated the border of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea near Cape Fiolent (Crimea).
"The destroyer was previously warned about the use of weapons in case of violation of the state border of the Russian Federation. He did not respond to the warning," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"At 11.52 on June 23, this year, the destroyer URO Defender of the British Navy, operating in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, crossed the state border of the Russian Federation and entered the territorial sea near Cape Fiolent for three kilometers," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
At 12:06 and 12:08, the border patrol ship fired warning shots. At 12:19, the Su-24M aircraft performed a warning bombing (4 OFAB-250) on the course of the movement of the destroyer URO "Defender", the military said.
"At 12:23, by the joint actions of the Black Sea Fleet and the Border Service of the FSB of Russia, the destroyer URO Defender left the borders of the territorial sea of the Russian Federation, "the report says.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that it regards the actions of the destroyer as a gross violation of the UN Convention and called on the British side to conduct a thorough investigation of the actions of the crew.
The defense attache at the British Embassy in Moscow was summoned on Wednesday to the Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation of the Russian Defense Ministry.
"The representative of the British Armed Forces was informed of the position of the Russian military department in connection with the violation of the URO (guided missile weapons)destroyer on June 23 of this year The British Navy is the state border of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea, " the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
