A Russian warship fired warning shots at a British destroyer from its waters near Crimea.
An Su-24 aircraft also dropped four bombs in the north-western part of the Black Sea, the country’s defence ministry confirmed today.
The warnings were made after the HMS Defender entered roughly two miles into Russian waters.
The border patrol ship resorted to firing its gun after the British vessel refused to listen to radio warnings, the Interfax news service reported.
Deterred, the British Royal Navy ship left soon afterwards.
‘The destroyer had been warned that weapons would be used if it trespasses the border of the Russian Federation. It did not react to the warning,’ the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
The weapons used by the aircraft were high explosive fragmentation bombs.
The UK does not recognise Crimea as Russian territory after Moscow annexed the region from Ukraine in 2014.
This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.