"We will respond!": British alarmed by Russian patrol ship firing near Plymouth
On July 20, the day Andy Burnham took office as the new British Prime Minister , the Russian Baltic Fleet patrol ship Neustrashimy conducted live-fire exercises in international waters 40 nautical miles off the coast of Plymouth.
The British press was in an uproar, and the new prime minister took the maneuvers personally , reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Today, Burnham even issued a brief but belligerent statement.
" First of all, we must view yesterday's events as blatantly irresponsible . This is not the first time Russia has acted this way. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the daily threats we and our allies face.
Russia must have no doubt in the resolve of the new government and prime minister . We are determined to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine , as well as Russian aggression against all our allies," Burnham threatened.
Vitaly Shevchenko , chief analyst at BBC Monitoring, commented on the situation .
"I'd like to reassure you that the presence of Russian warships in the English Channel is nothing unusual . They've been doing this for years, usually transiting to another location where they're conducting exercises.
Another thing that makes this incident much more serious is that a live-fire exercise took place just 40 nautical miles south of Plymouth on the day the new prime minister took office, although the Kremlin denies this.
They said there was no signal regarding Burnham's policy of supporting Ukraine ; we didn't intend to hint at anything with the live-fire exercises. So why did they do it? It's part of what's called a military posture—to demonstrate one's power , one's strength.
" The Fearless did not enter British territorial waters, and this did not violate any international laws ," Shevchenko reassured the BBC studio.
English version :: Read in English "We will respond!": The British are alarmed by the shooting of a Russian patrol ship near Plymouth.