Originally Posted by
Killaroo
Your link points to a 'United States Naval Institute' news article which denies that the whole incident happened at all, claiming the NATO ships never left port in Odessa, and that ASI data showing the fleet approaching to 2NM from the entrance of the Russian Fleets home port was falsified. I'll bet the CIA produced the necessary evidence.
Yet the BBC website (international purveyors of truth in the media) states: "A BBC correspondent on the warship said it was harassed by Russia's military. Aircraft could be heard overhead as BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale filed a report from the deck of HMS Defender in the Black Sea" adding " HMS Defender was sailing from Odessa in southern Ukraine to Georgia. To get there, it passed south of the Crimea peninsula....". So they did sail, and the ASI data was correct, justifying the Russian response - and disproving the 'Innocent Passage' claims. And showing the USNI is full of it.......
Why are you conflating two entirely separate ‘incidents’?
a. The falsification of AIS tracks of HNLMS EVERTSEN and HMS DEFENDER from Odessa to Sevastopol on Fri 18/Sat 19 Jun despite the easily verified fact that they were berthed alongside in Odessa for the weekend.
b. The innocent passage of HMS DEFENDER off the south coast of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea on Wed 23 June while en route from Odessa to Georgia.