On Sunday, Russia claimed one of its ships – the destroyer Smetlivy – fired a warning shot to avoid a collision with a Turkish fishing vessel 22 kilometers [14 miles] from Greece’s Lemnos Island.
Advertisement
The crew of the Kashin-class guided missile destroyer Smetlivy spotted the Turkish fishing trawler some 1,000 meters from the Russian warship early on Sunday morning, the ministry said. Moscow said the destroyer fired the warning shots when the fishing boat was 600 meters away.
“Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov has summoned the military attaché of the Turkish embassy in Russia in connection with the incident in the Aegean Sea”, the ministry said in its statement.
After the downing of the warplane, which led to the deaths of a pilot and another serviceman who attempted to rescue him, Russian Federation introduced economic sanctions against Turkey and beefed up its firepower at its airbase in Syria.
Relations remain tense over Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian bomber.
Iran offered to play a mediating role in simmering dispute between Russian Federation and Turkey, Iranian media reported, after Iranian First Vice President Ishak Jahangir met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ashgabat.
“Just by luck was tragedy averted”, the ministry said.
Turkey says the Su-24 plane repeatedly violated its airspace but Moscow insists it never strayed from Syria.
Advertisement
They said in a statement that the Turkish boat had approached to 600m. Russian Federation denies the claim and insists the aircraft had been in Syrian airspace. Russian Federation defended the action saying the crew had a “legal right” to protect their ship.
