As of: 06/30/2021 8:30 a.m.
Russian fighter planes are said to have repeatedly harassed the Dutch frigate “HNMLS Evertsen” in the Black Sea and carried out “sham attacks”. This is what the Dutch Ministry of Defense says. Moscow disagrees.
According to information from The Hague, there was an incident between Russian fighter planes and a Dutch warship in the Black Sea. The Netherlands accuse Moscow of a simulated attack.
As the ministry tweeted, the planes “repeatedly harassed” the frigate “HNMLS Evertsen” last Thursday in the southeast of the Crimean peninsula over a period of five hours and carried out “sham attacks,” said the Dutch Ministry of Defense. Moscow contradicted: the planes had operated “at a safe distance” and “in accordance with international rules”.
“Malfunction of the electronic equipment”
The Russian planes were armed with bombs and air-to-surface missiles, the ministry said in The Hague. There were also “malfunctions in the electronic equipment”. Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten called the behavior of the Russian armed forces “irresponsible”.
During this incident, the “Evertsen” was in international waters southeast of the Russian-occupied Crimea. The day before, the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed in Sevastopol had, according to its own statements, forced a British warship that had come near the Crimea to change course with warning shots and bombs. Russia had called the maneuver a provocation and warned of the dangers of such an approach.
Ukraine and the United States, along with more than 30 other countries, started a two-week military exercise in the Black Sea on Monday. The “Sea Breeze” maneuver has taken place 21 times since 1997. In the Ukraine-Russia conflict, it is seen as the backing of the West for the government in Kiev and is regularly criticized by Moscow.