Russian Destroyer Fires Warning Shot at Turkish Fishing Vessel in Aegean Sea

In another tense incident between Turkey and Russia, a Russian destroyer stationed in the Aegean Sea has fired at a Turkish fishing vessel. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a statement that the action of the destroyer was a 'warning shot' aimed at 'avoiding a collision with the Turkish ship.' The Ministry announced that the incident occurred on Sunday and that following this event, the Turkish military attaché in Moscow was summoned on the same day. As a consequence of this event, Russia also warned Turkey to refrain from 'provocative' behavior against its forces in Syria or near its borders. According to reports, the Russian reconnaissance destroyer Smitilov was stationed 22 kilometers from the Greek island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea, and its crew fired warning shots to avoid a collision with the Turkish fishing vessel. The report indicated that at the time of the incident, the Russian destroyer was anchored, and the fishing vessel approached from less than a thousand meters to the right of the destroyer. The Russian news agency Itar-Tass also reported that the Russian warship fired warning shots when the Turkish vessel ignored initial warnings. After the warning shots, the Turkish ship changed course and passed 500 meters from the Russian destroyer. Relations between Moscow and Ankara have severely deteriorated since a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian fighter jet. Turkey has officially stated that the Russian jet had entered its airspace and that the pilots of the jet had been warned multiple times before being targeted. However, the only pilot who survived from this incident claims he did not receive any warnings from Turkey. Meanwhile, Moscow believes that its jet was targeted in Syrian territory.