DISINFO: With the support of US, the UK was ready to create a casus belli in the Black Sea
SUMMARY
In March 2018, Poroshenko sent his military vessels towards the Crimea bridge. One of the goals of that provocation, was to cancel Putin's meting with Trump suring the G20 meeting in Argentina. The provocation was successful [...]
Now Boris Johnson is acting like Petro Poroshenko. This is "Ukrainisation" of British politics, with the close support of the US. Both Americans and the Brits knew exactly what they were doing. They knew they were crossing a well-guarded Russian border and knew the risks.
They were ready to create casus belli - a pretext for war.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the incident with the HMS Defender in the Black Sea, accusing the UK of provoking Russia.
There is no evidence to back these claims.
On 23 June, the UK Ministry of Defence Press Office stated that "the Royal Navy ship [was] conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law." It also added that the ship "carried out a routine transit from Odesa towards Georgia across the Black Sea" through internationally recognised Ukrainian territorial waters.
The UK Ministry of Defence also denied the claims that the HMS Defender has been fired on by the Russian side.
The crew of HMS Defender maneuvered the vessel in strict observance of international protocol. By passing near Crimea, the Defender was exercising the right of innocent passage, as laid down in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Articles 17-19 of the Convention allow for passage through another state's territorial sea, provided it is "continuous and expeditious" and "not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State" (pp. 30-1).
'Innocent passage' is one of several qualifications on the absolute sovereignty of a coastal state over its territorial waters. This means that a vessel exercising this right within the meaning of the Convention does not need to seek permission of the coastal state. This, according to a leading maritime law scholar, "makes it irrelevant to which state the territory in question belongs".
Russia occupied Crimea in March 2014. No international body has recognised the so-called referendum in Crimea, not the UN, nor the EU or the UK.
Read more about the incident here.
Read more about pro-Kremlin disinformation surrounding the Kerch strait incident here. See related examples of disinformation here.