Two Russian warships crossed Turkey's Bosphorus Strait and headed towards the Black Sea en route to Ukraine, which is engaged in a military stand-off with Moscow, media reported today.
Turkey's state-run Anatolia Agency reported that the ships, the 150 Saratov and 156 Yamal, were recalled after Russia stepped up efforts to strengthen its military presence in Crimea, Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking autonomous region at the epicentre of the escalating crisis.
Crimea's port of Sevastopol has been the home of the Russian navy's Black Sea fleet for some 250 years and a bastion of pro-Kremlin sentiment since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw it cut off from Moscow.
The Turkish military also said that it scrambled eight F-16 jets yesterday after a Russian spy plane was detected flying parallel to its Black Sea coast.
Crimea has come under near complete control by pro-Russian forces as the region has plunged into turmoil following the ouster last month of Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych.
Turkey, a NATO ally, has repeatedly voiced fears about the fate of the Turkish-speaking Tatar minority in Crimea, which was part of the Ottoman Empire until it was conquered by Russia in the late 18th century.
