Russia warns Britain over warship incident

Russia has accused Britain of spreading lies over a warship confrontation in the Black Sea and warned London it would respond resolutely to any further "provocative actions" off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea

The British ambassador in Moscow was summoned for a formal diplomatic scolding after the warship breached what the Kremlin says are its territorial waters but which Britain and most of the world say belong to Ukraine.

Britain said Russia was sowing inaccuracies and disputed Russia's account, saying no warning shots had been fired and that no bombs had been dropped in the path of the Royal Navy destroyer Defender during the confrontation.

Russia's foreign ministry summoned ambassador Deborah Bronnert to deliver a "tough demarche" - diplomatic jargon for a telling off - while spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused London of "barefaced lies".

"We believe it was a deliberate and premeditated provocation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the incident, in which Moscow said it fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of the British destroyer.

"In the event of a repeat of unacceptable provocative action - if those actions go too far, no options can be ruled out in terms of legally defending Russia's borders," Peskov said.

The Black Sea, which Russia uses to project its power in the Mediterranean, has for centuries been a flashpoint between Russia and competitors including Turkey, France, Britain and the United States.

Russia seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and considers areas around its coast to be Russian waters.

Western countries deem the Crimea part of Ukraine and reject Russia's claim to the seas around it.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told reporters during a visit to Singapore: "No shots were fired at HMS Defender".

"The Royal Navy ship was conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters," he said.

"We were doing so in accordance with international law and the Russian characterisation is predictably inaccurate."

Under international law of the sea, innocent passage permits a vessel to pass through another state's territorial waters so long as this does not affect its security.

During the 2008 Georgian war, Russia bristled at US warships operating in the Black Sea, and in April the United States cancelled the deployment of two vessels to the area.

Ties between London and Moscow have been on ice since the 2018 poisoning with a Soviet-developed nerve agent of double agent Sergei Skripal, a mole who betrayed hundreds of Russian agents to Britain's MI6 foreign spy service.

Russia said the British ship had ventured as far as 3km into Russian waters near Cape Fiolent, a landmark on Crimea's southern coast near the port of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet.

Britain's BBC released footage from the ship showing a Russian coastguard warning he would shoot if the British ship did not change course.

"If you don't change the course, I'll fire," a heavily accented Russian voice said in English to the British ship.

The BBC said shots were fired and as many as 20 Russian aircraft were "buzzing" the British ship.

Britain said the shots were part of a Russian gunnery exercise.

Russia released footage filmed from a Russian SU-24 bomber flying close to the British ship.