The border service of the FSB , the Navy and the Aerospace Forces jointly expelled the British destroyer D35 HMS Dragon from the territorial waters of Russia in the Crimea region in October 2020, First Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service – Head of the Border Service Vladimir Kulishov told RIA Novosti. HMS Dragon is the fourth ship of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers
This incident at sea has not been previously reported. Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta in December last year only said that the British ship was passing through the territorial waters of Russia in the area of Cape Khersones.
“On October 13, 2020, despite the warning received about the inadmissibility of entering the territorial waters of Russia, the destroyer URO D35 Dragon of the British Navy crossed the state border of the Russian Federation in the area of Cape Khersones in the Black Sea, using the right of innocent passage. The captain of the destroyer announced a poor signal reception. As a result of a joint operation with the Russian Navy and the Russian Aerospace Forces, the warship was expelled into neutral waters, “Kulishov said.
He stressed that Russian border guards are closely monitoring the “unfriendly” activities of Western countries near the Russian borders, which are aimed primarily at demonstrating military force in order to contain the alleged “aggressive policy of Russia in the region”, and are ready for various scenarios of the development of the situation, including warning and suppression of provocations at sea aimed at undermining the legitimacy of the legal regimes of the Russian water areas and demonstrating disregard for the sovereignty of the Russian Federation.
Updated 28 May: The British Department of Defence has reacted to the Russian claim stating that the British destroyer D35 Dragon did not participate in any incidents in the Crimea region in October 2020. The DoD claimed that the D35 was sailing from Odessa to Batumi and there was no involvement from the Russians.