Russian destroyer Smetlivy: shoots at Turkish ship

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday one of its warships, the destroyer Smetlivy, had been forced to fire warning shots at a Turkish vessel in the Aegean Sea to avoid a collision and that it had summoned the Turkish military attache over the incident.

The Interfax news agency said that the Turkish vessel, which the ministry did not name, had failed to respond to earlier warnings, but had sharply changed course after shots were fired before passing within 500 metres of the Russian warship.

Turkey and Russia have been having hostilities since Turkey shot down a Russian war jet, killing one of the pilots last month.

A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down the Russian Sukhoi Su-24M bomber aircraft near the Syria–Turkey border. Turkey said the plane ignored warnings after overflying Turkish airspace.