According to BBC news, yesterday Russian military ship fired warning shots at British Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender, while it was sailing in the territorial waters of Crimea, sovereign territory of Ukraine, and a Russian jet dropped bombs in its path as a warning.

Russian Defence Ministry stated that the British navy destroyer was trying to enter the territorial waters of Russia in the Black Sea. Russian jets dropped bombs as a warning signal not  to violate their own territorial waters.

However, according to British government, the British navy was sailing in the territorial waters of Ukraine, not Russia.

To clarify the incident, Eurasia Diary took short comments from Engin Ozer, Turkish expert on Eurasian studies.

“There are two different scenarios on this issue. First, according to information from the British Royal Navy Ship, no incident happened at the border of Russia in the Black Sea. The British government stated that their ship did not violate the territorial waters of Russia, and it was sailing in the waters near the territory of Ukraine. However, according to a BBC reporter, he was in a ship and twenty Russian jets crossed over them and launched strikes. This is a second scenario,” Ozer noted.   

Turkish expert noted that the incident should not be characterized as a spark of the tension between Russia and NATO in the Black Sea.

“I do not think that the incident would lead to the rise of tension between NATO and Russia in the Black Sea. We know that the Presidents of the United States and Russian Federation Joseph Biden and Vladimir Putin came to an agreement on the preservation of stability and peace in Europe and Black Sea during the meeting in Geneva.  On the other hand, the Biden administration wants to strengthen the partnership with Russia in order to inhibit Chinese influence in Europe and Central Asia. This is the main reason why there is no strong response from Washington to Russian strike. Without the support of NATO, the UK cannot give a serious response to Russia,” he said.

“The United Kingdom does not want to accept a new policy of the US on Russia.  London supports imposing new sanctions on Russia,” he added.