MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Russian Defense Ministry has voiced official protest to the Ukrainian military attache in Moscow over the actions of a Ukrainian Antonov-26 airlift turboprop in the vicinity of Russian oil drilling rigs in the Black Sea.
"On Wednesday night, the Ukrainian military attache was summoned to the Defense Ministry where he was handed a note," Gen Igor Konashenkov, the Defense Ministry's official spokesman told reporters.
"The ministry offered a protest to the attache over an incident where an Antonov-26 turboprop of the Ukrainian Army made two runs-in at Tavrida and Krym-1 drilling rigs at a minimal admissible altitude, which jeopardized the safety and security of their personnel," he said, adding that the incident occurred between 11:30 and 12:00 Moscow Standard Time.
"The note says the Russian side sizes up the actions of the Ukrainian plane as a provocation," Gen Konashenkov said.
A spokesman for the staff of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which is one of the five main territorial divisions of the Russian Navy, said earlier on Wednesday a Ukrainian Antonov-26 airlifter had made two provocative runs-in at a minimal admissible altitude at the two Russian drilling rigs in the Black Sea.
The dismissed the Ukrainian officials’ claims about gunfire, which Russia forces had allegedly opened at the turboprop, as an absolute lie.
During the second target run of the plane, a guard at one of the oil rigs shot up for flares from a signal pistol to prevent the turboprop’s collision with the jackknife of the rig.