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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Russia threatens to sink Royal Navy warships as UK accuses Vladimir Putin of lying

Russia have launched a fresh threat to sink British warships if they sail too close to Crimea again.

Moscow say they will not tolerate another 'breach' of what they claim are their waters, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned.

Tensions are continuing to rise between the nations following the tense stand-off in the Black Sea on Wednesday.

The Kremlin accused HMS Defender and Britain of "deliberate provocation" by entering the disputed area.

It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson hit back at claims the UK had told "barefaced lies" over the confrontation.

Russia claimed it had opened fire on the vessel as it entered the waters - but the UK government has dismissed that suggestion.

Russia launched a warning after previously carrying out military drills (MoD Russia)

On Thursday, they released footage of what they claimed was the Royal Navy ship being 'chased out' of Ukrainian waters by Russian jets.

Now a fresh warning arrived from Moscow and Ryabkov vowed to take action if there is a repeat of this week's showdown.

He said: “We can appeal to common sense, demand respect for international law.

“If this does not help, we can bomb not only in the direction but also on target, if our colleagues do not understand.

“I warn everyone violating the state borders of the Russian Federation under the slogan of free navigation, from such provocative steps, because the security of our country comes first.”

The Royal Navy's destroyer HMS Defender was at the centre of a tense stand-off (REUTERS)

Moscow has accused the UK of telling "barefaced lies" and warned the incident will have serious consequences.

Asked whether the allegation, made by Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, was correct, Prime Minister Mr Johnson said: "Well, they're the bear.

"That's not my information and my understanding is that the carrier strike group proceeded in the way you would expect through international waters and in accordance with the law."

He added: "These are a matter for the Ministry of Defence but if you want my view I think it was wholly appropriate to use international waters, and by the way the important point is that we don't recognise the Russian annexation of Crimea, this is part of a sovereign Ukrainian territory.

Russia released footage of what they claimed was the warship being 'chased out' of Ukrainian waters (MoD Russia)

"It was entirely right that we should vindicate the law and pursue freedom of navigation in the way that we did, take the shortest route between two points, and that's what we did."

The PM went on: "I think it was very important for the carrier strike group to do what they're going to do around the world, in partnership with 40 other countries on manoeuvres, sticking up for our values, sticking up for what we believe in.

"That includes democracy, human rights, equalities, but also the rule of law and freedom of navigation.

"We don't recognise the Russian annexation of Crimea, it was illegal, these are Ukrainian waters and it was entirely right to use them to go from A to B."

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