Russia Launches Mediterranean Drills Amid Rift With UK

• Russia Launches Mediterranean Drills Amid Rift With UK
  by https://www.aljazeera.com/, 25 June 2021
  The drills come days after Moscow claimed it fired warning shots at a British warship on the Black Sea.
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  The Russian military has launched sweeping manoeuvres in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes capable of carrying hypersonic missiles, a show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea.
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  Moscow said one of its warships fired warning shots and a warplane dropped bombs in the path of HMS Defender, a British ship, on Wednesday to force it out of an area near Crimea that Russia claims as its territorial waters. Britain denied that account, insisting its ship was not fired upon and said it was sailing in Ukrainian waters.
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  The Russian drills that began on Friday in the Eastern Mediterranean come as a British carrier strike group is in the area. Earlier this week, British and US F-35 fighters from HMS Queen Elizabeth flew combat sorties against the ISIL (ISIS) group.
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  Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, allowing President Bashar al-Assad’s government to reclaim control over most of the country after a devastating civil war. The Russian Defence Ministry said a pair of MiG-31 fighter jets capable of carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles arrived at the Russian airbase in Syria for the exercise. The Hemeimeem airbase, in the coastal province of Latakia, serves as the main hub for Moscow’s operations in the country.
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