The June 23 incident in the Black Sea during which the U.K.’s HMS Defender provocatively sailed into waters claimed by Russia off the Crimean coast, was followed the very next day by a similar provocation by an associated Dutch ship, the HNLMS Evertsen. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Evertsen approached the Kerch Strait after a change in course, and to prevent another violation of Russia’s territorial waters, “Sukhoi-30 fighters and Sukhoi-24 bombers were scrambled to fly near the Dutch naval ship at a safe distance.” The frigate promptly turned away from the Russian border and continued along its original course. The HNLMS Evertsen, which has been sailing the Black Sea along with the HMS Defender and, like the Defender, is attached to the HMS Queen Elizabeth strike group.
The Dutch Defense Ministry yesterday charged that Russian fighter jets carried out feigned attacks against the Evertsen, that they had “repeatedly harassed the Evertsen” by flying “dangerously low and close,” and that the frigate’s electronic equipment was also disrupted.
This second incident makes it totally clear that the dangerous Defender violation of Russian waters was by no means a one-off provocation by the British. In fact, it turns out that it was at least the third time since 2018 that the Royal Navy and its allies have provoked the Russians in the vicinity of Crimea. Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin stated that there had been a previous similar incident involving the HMS Dragon, a sister ship of the Defender. The Dragon, he said, “committed similar actions, approaching Sevastopol at a certain distance” on Oct. 15, 2020. “That time, the [British] Defense Attaché was summoned. He was told that this was a violation of the Russian and international law regarding innocent passage. The Defense Attaché was warned that such things must not happen again. And, if they do, our reactions would be much harder,” the Kelin pointed out in a video statement posted on the embassy website. [https://www.rusemb.org.uk/video/416]