UK denies Russian claim of shots fired at British warship off Black Sea

Russia has claimed it expelled another British warship in the area last year, an assertion London rejected.

Russia said it used bombs and gunfire in “warning shots” to force a British Navy destroyer to leave waters it claims in the Black Sea, but the U.K. rejected that, saying it was likely a “gunnery exercise” that didn’t affect the ship’s planned voyage.
 

The episode, which the Russian Defense Ministry said took place off Cape Fiolent, south of its Sevastopol naval base in Crimea, highlights the tensions in the area following Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the strategic peninsula from Ukraine.
 

Russia said the incident lasted about half an hour, with the HMS Defender entering waters Moscow claims as its