File photo of British warship HMS Defender. – AFP photo
VIENNA (June 25): Russia may drop bombs on British warships in the Black Sea if there were any further provocative actions by the British Navy, Konstantin Gavrilov, the Russian envoy to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, said on Thursday.
UK defence minister Ben Wallace reiterated on Thursday that HMS Defender conducted “innocent passage” through Ukrainian waters near Crimea on Wednesday when Russia scrambled gunboats and a bomber to drive it away. The Russian Defence Ministry said the jet dropped four bombs in the path of the British destroyer.
Gavrilov said during an OSCE security forum that he was outraged by the UK military’s claims and warned that “next time bombs — if we do choose to go that way — will be dropped on target and not in a ship’s path,” reported Sputnik.
Russia says the British warship sailed as far as 3 kilometres into Russian waters near the southernmost tip of Sevastopol, a Russian naval base, prompting gunboats to fire warning shots. The UK Ministry of Defence insists Russian fire was part of an exercise. – Bernama