Russian Warship Fires Warning Shots to Trkish Fishing Boat in Aegean Sea

“The Turkish military diplomat was given a tough explanation about the potentially fatal results from Ankara’s risky actions towards Russia’s military contingent fighting against global terrorism in Syria”, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

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.

Turkey has warned its patience with Russian Federation “has a limit” after Moscow’s “exaggerated” reaction to a weekend naval incident between the two countries. Russian military vessels are involved in Russia’s intervention against rebels in Syria. A Russian pilot is killed parachuting from the jet, and a Russian marine is killed in a subsequent mission that rescues the other pilot.

“Acting in violation of regulations for preventing collisions and against the generally accepted conventions of navigation, the Turkish vessel failed to get out of the way of the convoy”.

The Turkish fishing boat sharply changed its course and passed by about 540 meters away from the vessel after the warning.

Last month, the Turkish Foreign Ministry advised the Turkish nationals to delay all their non-urgent trips to Russian Federation.

The weeks since the November 24 shoot down have seen continuously growing tensions between the US-aligned Turkish regime and Russian Federation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said he would issue a statement later, but emphasized, “We want to solve the tension with dialogue”.

Following the incident, ties between Moscow and Ankara severely strained with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying that the country’s military will “immediately destroy” any targets threatening its presence in war-torn Syria.

Turkey said it downed the Russian plane after it violated its airspace for 17 seconds despite repeated warnings, while Russia has insisted the plane had remained in Syrian airspace. The Kremlin supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey asserts that Dr. Assad must step down to ensure peace in Syria.