Tim Ogden

HMS Defender: What’s behind the Navy’s Russian incident?

(Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Assuming that reports are accurate, the world has just witnessed the most serious escalation between the UK and Russia since the poisoning of Sergei Skripal three years ago. Russian bombs and gunfire were reportedly discharged near HMS Defender, currently patrolling the Black Sea. The Kremlin has justified the supposed aggression by stating that the ship had strayed into Russian waters. The UK, meanwhile, has denied that any such incident took place. 

Russia’s justification, if indeed it did what it claims it did, is based on a false premise. The coastline in question does not, in fact, belong to Russia — Defender was positioned off the Crimean peninsula. The international community recognises the territory as being an integral part of Ukraine. The waters in question, therefore, belong to Kiev and not Moscow.

Any dishonesty from the Kremlin would only be in keeping with its prior form

The Navy has not yet commented on what Defender was doing in the Black Sea, only stating that it had broken away from the UK Carrier Strike Group’s Mediterranean deployment and moved to the Black Sea to pursue ‘its own set of missions’. It is possible that it was tasked with testing Russian readiness to defend its occupied coastline. The Kremlin does much the same when it periodically sends ageing strategic bombers into UK airspace to test RAF interception response times.

If true, the use of live ammunition would be a wilful escalation. Yet even if there were no shots fired at all, the Navy’s presence is likely part of a broader Nato strategy. Following Russia’s military posturing on Ukraine’s borders and Belarus’s interception of a RyanAir flight, the alliance wants to make clear that it will continue to challenge Moscow.

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