U.K. rejects Russia's claim to have fired "warning shots" at a British warship off Crimea's coast
CBSN
Moscow — Russia's Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that a British Royal Navy destroyer had entered the country's territorial waters in the Black Sea, drawing a series of "warning shots" from Russian ships and aircraft before turning around. Britain denied that the HMS Defender had drawn any warning fire from Russia and, along with the United States and many other nations, doesn't agree with Russia's definition of its own territory.
Russia's state-run TASS news agency said the warning shots from a Russian patrol vessel were followed by a Russian Navy Su-24 fighter jet dropping four bombs along the path of the British warship, to prevent it from further maneuvers in the area. According to the report, the Defender "did not respond" to the warnings, but eventually left Russia's waters after sailing about two miles into the country's territory. But the incident happened near Cape Fiolent, on the coast of Crimea, which Russia unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014 after sending military forces across the border to help secure the ground.Amersham, England — Family and friends of One Direction star Liam Payne, who died last month after falling from a Buenos Aires hotel room, gathered for his funeral in Britain on Wednesday. Payne's former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson were among mourners at the private service at St Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, just outside London.
Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine's use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow. While there was no immediate reaction directly from the man who launched the nearly three-year war on his neighboring nation, lawmakers aligned with President Vladimir Putin in Russia said Monday that the move was unacceptable and warned it could lead to a third world war.