The Daily Mail published an eyewitness report of a Russian ship firing on the HMS Defender. Reports say when the two forces met, the British destroyer was pursued by assets of the Russian force.
Weapons fired on the British ship
According to the Daily Mail, the melee in Crimean waters was witnessed as opposing forces were engaged in tensions. The Russians supposedly fired warning shots, with no intent to hit the Defender. Instead, the shots were fired to push it back to international waters.
During the encounter in which the gunner fired warning rounds from the ship's deck, Vladimir Putin's Black Sea fleet immediately acted once the identified foreign ship allegedly breached the annexed Russian territory in the Black Sea.
Russian military sources said the encounter occurred yesterday afternoon, in Cape Fiolent, which is a part of the Crimean coastline. Moscow considered the incident as an unlawful intrusion by the Royal Navy.
The Black Fleet made it clear that the HMS Defender will be shot at if it violated the border of the Russian Federation, noted a report on SCMP. The Russians said that one of their planes warned the UK warship by dropping four high explosive fragmentation bombs. However, the UK has denied the encounter and The Royal Navy calls it propaganda by Moscow.
A report from the Daily Mail said none of the ordnance that was supposedly launched was seen on the ship's crew or its radar. A possible encounter with the Defender and Russian forces might have occurred.
After her royal majesty Queen Elizabeth heard of the incident, she sent a message to the warship's crew, broadcast over the coms by the ship's commander, Vincent Owen.
Russia is reportedly furious over the incident and called it a serious provocation and called the British defense official in Moscow for a meeting.
Discussions with fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be done to brief a coordinated response if it happens again in the future.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has told MPs that Putin remains a real threat to peace, citing the Salisbury poisoning of 2018.
A crew member of the destroyer Defender speaks
The latest encounter had 50 interactions with a Russian plane in a span of a few hours. Commander Owen said that it was the closest he got to another combatant ship in 12-years. He added a coastguard cutter had fired the rounds, noted the Swift Headline.
Furthermore, the commander added that his ship was following international law while passing their path during the encounter.
While sailing the destroyers was moving out of weapon range while moving at 30 knots to 21 of the Russians. The lone Defender had Russian jets and a drone that paced them, going out to international waters.
Lone warship unfazed by Russians
In 2009, the HMS Defender is the fifth of the Type 45 destroyers, and the most sophisticated ship of the Royal Navy. Assigned as air defense in the new Carrier Strike Group (CSG) that protects the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. On Tuesday, the destroyer deployed from guard duties from the new carrier and ended up on the Crimean coast to meet the Black Sea armada.
Commander Owen did the freedom of navigation in the disputed region under authority. An encounter with HMS Defender and Russian forces was a show of force.
Related article: British Warship Denies That It Was Fired Upon by Russian Military Assets While in The Black Sea
