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UK Ambassador leaves Russian Foreign Ministry without comments after Black Sea incident

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow views the actions of the Defender as a blatant provocation

UK Ambassador to Moscow Deborah Bronnert Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

UK Ambassador to Moscow Deborah Bronnert

© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, June 24. /TASS/. UK Ambassador to Moscow Deborah Bronnert left the Russian Foreign Ministry without comments after being summoned over the HMS Defender incident in the Black Sea. She refused to answer journalists’ questions, according to a TASS reporter.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Moscow views the actions of the Defender as a blatant provocation.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Black Sea Fleet and the Federal Security Service border control service thwarted a violation of the Russian border by HMS Defender near Crimea’s Cape Fiolent. The destroyer reportedly traveled 3 kilometers into Russia’s territorial waters. A guard ship fired warning shots, followed by several bombs, dropped from a Su-24M plane ahead of the Defender, after which the destroyer left Russian waters. The Russian Defense Ministry viewed the destroyer’s actions as a blatant violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and called on London to investigate the actions of the crew.

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