Shots fired in the Black Sea

A British warship has been embroiled in a dramatic flare-up with Russian forces in the Black Sea this afternoon – but the details of what really went on remain murky. 

According to Moscow’s defence ministry, a Russian military ship fired warning shots at the Royal Navy’s HMS Defender at 12.06 and a jet dropped bombs in its path at 12.19, after it refused to listen to radio warnings and entered Russian territorial waters near Crimea. 

But the British Ministry of Defence has flatly denied these claims. It issued a swift response, saying no shots or bombs were directed at the British ship. According to the MoD, Russia was undertaking a pre-arranged gunnery exercise in the Black Sea, and the defender was conducting an “innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters” en route from Odessa to Georgia. 

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, insists the vessel “exited the corridor safely” and Russian vessels shadowed its passage “as is routine.”

Others are less convinced. Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, has urged her opposite number, Dominic Raab, to “confirm the validity of these deeply concerning reports.”

The UK’s assertion that its vessel was in Ukrainian territorial waters is a loaded one, and symptomatic of wider tensions with Russia over the West’s backing of Kiev. 

Ever since Russia annexed the peninsula of Crimea in 2014, opinions have diverged on where Russian water ends and Ukrainian water begins.

It’s worth pointing out that incidents involving aircraft or ships at Russia’s borders are not uncommon, especially during periods of heightened tension with the West. And the US periodically sends warships to the region in a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine – much to the annoyance of the Kremlin. 

Such incidents, however, rarely result in opening fire.

Travel industry on the brink

Hundreds of pilots, cabin crew and travel agents are taking part in a “day of action” — with airport staff waving placards on empty runways and others stood outside Westminster, Holyrood and Stormont – ahead of the government’s travel review tomorrow. 

All those partaking are urging the government to expand its green list and save their devastated sector. 

While going abroad is no longer illegal, the long amber list means most travellers have to quarantine upon return. 

Tim Alderslade, the boss of Airlines UK, warned today: “It’s now or never to save the rest of summer”. 

Sacrificing a sunny holiday abroad may feel like a fairly small price to pay to manage a global pandemic. But as Alderslade says, this is “not just about the families desperate to get away, but the tens of thousands of jobs which rely upon this once thriving sector.”

According to a bleak estimate from the World Travel and Tourism Council, if current travel restrictions remain in place until September, almost three million people in the UK travel and tourism sector could lose their livelihoods.

Leisure trips aside, business travel is essential to the economy and the country’s ability to trade on the global stage. 

Whatever the perceived threat from abroad, the domestic picture is looking slightly rosier. Even Prof Neil Ferguson – the notoriously gloomy SAGE member – has called the latest coronavirus data “encouraging”. 

While infection rates are still rising across the country, “they have slowed slightly compared with a couple of weeks ago, and we’re seeing rises in hospitalisations and deaths but they’re at a much lower level compared with cases than they were previously,” says Ferguson. All of this, he argues, demonstrates the “high effectiveness” of vaccines.

PC found guilty

A police constable has been convicted of the manslaughter of the ex-Aston Villa footballer, Dalian Atkinson.

The jury heard how PC Benjamin Monk, 43, tasered Atkinson for 33 seconds – six times longer than standard – before kicking him twice in the head, in Telford, Shropshire, in 2016. Atkinson died of cardiac arrest. The jury concluded that this constituted unreasonable force, although Monk was cleared of murder.

Monk told the jury how he had feared for his life after confronting Atkinson, who had mental health issues as well as serious health problems, outside his father’s house where he was behaving erratically and claiming to be the Messiah.

Monk is only the second serving police officer to be convicted of manslaughter in the UK.

Atkinson’s family said justice had been done and hoped he would be remembered for his life, not his death.

Caitlin Allen,
Reaction Reporter