Russia says scrambles fighter jets over Dutch frigate in Black Sea: Interfax

The Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday that it had scrambled fighter jets and bombers to prevent a Dutch frigate from entering Russian waters in the Black Sea, Interfax news agency reported.

The Russian military said the warplanes flew at a safe distance from the vessel and in line with international regulations.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands’ defense ministry said the Russian actions took place over the span of five hours on June 24 and violated rights to free use of the sea.

The frigate, Evertsen, was sailing with Britain’s Carrier Strike Group, which was carrying out a patrol in the area at the time.

Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten called the Russian action “irresponsible.”

The “Evertsen has every right to sail there,” she said in a statement. “There is no justification for this kind of aggressive act, which needlessly increases the chance of accidents.”

She indicated the Netherlands would raise the matter with Russia at the diplomatic level.

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Last week, Russia said it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British destroyer sailing in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimea peninsula, which Russia seized and annexed from Ukraine.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said no Russian warning shots were fired at the Royal Navy’s HMS Defender, which sailed into the Black Sea earlier this month, and it did not recognize assertions that bombs were put in its path.

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