Pune, India. 29 May 2021. First Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service Vladimir Kulishov told RIA Novosti (a state-owned newspaper) that the border service of the FSB, the Navy and the Aerospace Forces jointly expelled the British destroyer D35 Dragon from the territorial waters of Russia in the Crimea region in October 2020, which violated the Russian state border in the area of Cape Chersonesos.
This incident at sea has not been previously reported. In an interview, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin in December last year only said that the British ship was passing through the territorial waters of Russia in the area of Cape Chersonesos.
Kulishov stressed that Russian border guards are closely monitoring the “unfriendly” activities of Western partners near the Russian borders, which are primarily aimed at demonstrating military force in order to contain the allegedly “aggressive policy of Russia in the region”, and are ready for various scenarios of the development of the situation, including prevention and suppression provocations at sea aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the legal regimes of Russian water areas and demonstrating disregard for the sovereignty of the Russian Federation.
According to the Telegraph, the representative of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom, the destroyer was sailing from Odessa to Batumi . At the same time, as the British government told the newspaper, “Great Britain does not recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia, therefore the waters in the Crimea region are not considered Russian.”
“HMS Dragon chose the most direct route from one port to another, following the recognized safe route for all international ships in Ukrainian waters. The Russian Navy did not interfere with the passage of the HMS Dragon. It passed without incident, using our right of innocent passage in accordance with the UN Convention on the law of the sea. “a British Defense Ministry spokesman told the newspaper.
