Russia summons UK envoy; warns of ‘dangerous consequences’ after Black Sea drone attack
The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned the British ambassador and warned London of "dangerous consequences," following a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow's Black Sea fleet in Crimea last week, which Russia says the UK provided support to Kiev to carry out the attack.
"Such confrontational actions of the English carry a threat of escalation of the situation and could lead to unpredictable and dangerous consequences," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Stressing that Moscow had delivered a "strong protest" to UK ambassador Deborah Bronnert in the wake of the attack, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had handed "concrete facts" of London's "hostile provocations" to her and that “a demand was put forward to stop them immediately.”
The ministry said British forces were training Ukrainian special services in the southern city of Ochakiv for "sabotage operations at sea," adding that the training also included preparing "underwater saboteurs for operations in the waters of the Black and Azov seas".
Russia accused Britain on Saturday of helping Ukraine to conduct a drone attack on its ships in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, with the UK dismissing the allegations as "false claims on an epic scale."
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement the “preparation of this terrorist act … were carried out under the guidance of British specialists located in the city of Ochakiv in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region.”
The ministry said “the ships of the Black Sea Fleet that were attacked by terrorists are involved in ensuring the security of the ‘grain corridor’ as part of an international initiative to export agricultural products from Ukrainian ports.”
The defense ministry also said that in response to the drone attacks, Russia was suspending its participation in the deal that allowed grain exports from Ukraine.
The Russian fleet stationed in the port had also been attacked by a drone in July.
Crimea joined the Russian Federation in a referendum in 2014.
Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the 2014 Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Since the onset of operations, the US and its European allies have imposed waves of sanctions on the Kremlin and sent numerous batches of advanced weapons to Ukraine. Moscow has been critical of the weapons supplies to Kiev, warning that they will prolong the war.
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