Ukrainian navy threatens to shoot at Russian ships after ‘provocative manoeuvres’ – World News

The Ukrainian navy has threatened to shoot at Russian FSB security service patrol ships in a worrying flashpoint amid fears a war could be sparked between the nations.

In the latest of several spats, five Federal Security Service vessels carried out “provocative manoeuvres” in the Azov Sea around three Gyurza-M-class artillery boats of Ukraine’s navy.

“In response to the threats from the Russian vessels, our sailors had to warn of a readiness to use weapons,” said Andrii Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News.

After the Kyiv sailors issued the threat to shoot, they were allowed to proceed, he said.

There are fears Russia is seeking to provoke a response from Ukraine which may act as a catalyst to a wider conflict and even full scale war.

Vladimir Putin is projected to have 115,000 troops in place by early next week.

It comes as Ukraine has warned that it could unilaterally build a nuclear arsenal if NATO refuses to permit it membership of the Western military alliance.

It was formerly a nuclear state with 176 ICBMs and 44 strategic bombers after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and agreed to eliminate its weaponry in return for legally-binding security guarantees from Britain, the US and Russia.

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“We must do everything possible to ensure that Putin will not attack us tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” said Andriy Melnik, Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany.

“The only possibility for this is for Ukraine to finally become a NATO member.

“If Ukraine were a NATO member in 2014… it would never have come to the annexation and this terrible war in the east,” he said.

He warned bluntly: ”Ukraine has no other choice, either we are part of an alliance such as NATO and are doing our part to make this Europe stronger, or we have the only option: to arm by ourselves, and maybe think about nuclear status again.

“How else can we guarantee our defence?”

In a plea for the West to bolster its security guarantees, he said: “Almost 90,000 [Russian] servicemen, as well as their armed systems were pulled to the border and to the region of occupied Crimea and Donbas.

“This deployment is not just muscle flexing.

“We are dealing with the largest troop movement in Russia since the Second World War.”

Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency said in a report that Ukraine “likely retains the technical capability to build a nuclear arsenal”.

But it said: “The state of its civilian nuclear power programme leaves something to be desired.

“Last year, Ukrainian nuclear industry workers sounded the alarm about the threat of ‘another Chernobyl’ citing a ‘dire situation’ which they said was ‘taking shape in the country’s nuclear energy sector’ due to a lack of oversight, safety permits, and funds.”

Kyiv warned strongly over the threat of the Azov Sea tension escalating into a major incident.

“Russia continues to violate international law,” said the Ukrainian navy.

“Russia’s FSB made yet another attempt to hinder the lawful actions of a Ukrainian Navy boat group on combat duty.

“The Ukrainian navy’s tactical boat group proceeded with its mission despite Russian provocations and deliberate efforts to restrict free navigation.”

On Thursday, Ukraine issued a protest over Russia’s decision to bar foreign warships and state vessels from parts of the Black Sea in the direction of the Kerch Strait from next week until October.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said: “Such actions by the Russian Federation are another attempt, in violation of the norms and principles of international law, at usurping [our] sovereign rights as a littoral state.

“It is Ukraine that has the right to regulate navigation in these parts of the Black Sea.”

There were claims that satellite images show Russia has installed in Crimea S-400 anti-aircraft systems with a range of 250 miles, according to Information Navigator.

This allows “the Russian occupation forces to control almost all the airspace of the Black Sea”.

Meanwhile, new videos show continued Russian troop movements east of the Ukrainian border.