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The HMS Enterprise was returning after joint military exercises in the Black Sea, while Russian Kyzyl-60 was returning to Russia after being dispatched to the Syrian port of Tartus.
Russian Black Sea Navy Spokesman Truhachev refuted news on accidents or dangerously close manoeuvres between Kyzyl-60 and HMS Enterprise.
Earlier a British tabloid the Daily Star reported that the Russian military transport Kyzyl-60 and British survey vessel HMS Enterprise came dangerously close near Bosphorus. The Kyzyl-60 was leaving the Syrian port of Tartus, where a Russian naval logistics center is located, and was heading for Russia. The British vessel was leaving the Black Sea, were it participated in military exercises and patrolled the sea along with two other NATO ships.
After the reunification of Crimea, NATO forces intensified their presence in the Black Sea. On January 5, the destroyer-class ship USS Carney, equipped with an Aegis missile defense system and dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles, entered the region to “enhance regional maritime stability.” Last summer, several NATO warships conducted joint military exercises with Ukraine in the Black Sea.
A year ago, the Royal Navy Frigate HMS St Albans and RAF Typhoon jets escorted the Russian aircraft carrier Kuznetsov on its way from Syria back to Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry noted that the carrier didn’t require any escort and would find a way home on its own. / sputnik
