U.K. rejects Russia's claim to have fired "warning shots" at a British warship off Crimea's coast

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.