Russian ships force Turkish vessel to change course in Black Sea

A Russian Black Sea corvette and a coast guard boat forced a commercial vessel under a Turkish flag to change course after it got in the way of a Crimean energy firm’s boats towing oil rigs, the company said on Monday.

A Russian Black Sea corvette and a coast guard boat forced a commercial vessel under a Turkish flag to change course after it got in the way of a Crimean energy firm’s boats towing oil rigs, the company said on Monday.

The firm, Chernomorneftegaz, said the rigs were delivered into safety.

Earlier on Sunday, a Russian warship had opened fire to “avoid collision” with a Turkish fishing boat in the Aegean Sea, the defence ministry said. “The crew of the Russian patrol ship Smetlivy which was located 22 kilometres (13.7 miles) from the Greek island of Lemnos in the northern part of the Aegean Sea avoided collision with a Turkish seiner,” the ministry said, adding that the crew had fired small arms to warn the boat.

Relations between both countries plummeted after the Turkish army downed a Russian warplane last month at the Syria-Turkey border, inciting a bitter war of words between its leaders.

(With inputs from AFP)