Ships of foreign states entering the Black Sea with long-range precision weapons on board are trying by their actions to test the defense capability of Russia in the region of the Black Sea coast.

The head of the Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu said this in the program “Moscow.

Kremlin.

Putin "on the air of the TV channel" Russia 1 ".

“Of course, we understand: when a ship of a non-regional power enters the Black Sea, when we understand that it has long-range high-precision weapons on board, when we understand that these are weapons on it, that is, it is not going on a tourist trip, naturally, we we watch him, we accompany him and understand that any provocations are possible at any time, at any moment, as was the case not so long ago with a British ship, and, of course, we should not allow such things, ”he stressed.

Recall that in June, the Black Sea Fleet, together with the border service of the FSB of Russia, stopped the violation of the Russian state border by the British destroyer Defender.

The incident took place in the area of ​​Cape Fiolent.

As reported in the Ministry of Defense, the British ship crossed the state border of the Russian Federation and entered the Russian territorial waters, not responding to warnings.

The border patrol ship performed warning firing, and the Su-24M aircraft carried out warning bombing along the course of the vessel's movement, after which the destroyer left the borders of the territorial sea of ​​Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry described the incident as a gross provocation.

The head of the defense department noted that the actions of foreign ships are "an almost constant attempt to check us, to check how ready we are, how well we have built the entire system along the Black Sea coast, in general in the south of our country."

“Then, as I understand it, they will have exercises, exercises with our neighbors, exercises with the Georgian fleet and exercises with the Ukrainian fleet.

We are also conducting exercises and will conduct them, ”Shoigu added.

Recall that on November 1, during a meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and enterprises of the military-industrial complex, President Vladimir Putin also drew attention to the attempts of a number of Western countries to "break" the existing strategic parity, "including by deploying elements of a global missile defense in close proximity to Russian borders ".

“We cannot fail to notice these threats to the security of Russia and we will respond appropriately, adequately to the situation,” the president emphasized.

Nikita Danyuk, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, member of the Public Chamber of Russia, in a conversation with RT, noted that the actions of US and NATO ships in the Black Sea are designed to aggravate the situation in the region.

“Even at the official level, in the public space, both the United States and British representatives say that it is extremely important for them to show Russia that it is not a full-fledged owner of the Black Sea and that the constant calls of American warships are not just isolated cases, it is a purposeful strategy for Russia to “feel” that the Black Sea water area can become a hypothetical war zone, ”the expert said.

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He stressed that such provocations will not go unanswered. 

"The Minister of Defense very diplomatically made it clear that we understand the purpose for which NATO warships enter the Black Sea, we understand that in this way they are checking us, but despite this, we will perceive any potential attempt at provocation as a threat to national security." , - said the analyst.

In turn, political scientist Ruslan Balbek, in an interview with RT, expressed the opinion that NATO, resorting to such provocations, is trying to get the information they need about the capabilities of Russian weapons.

“We need the frequencies of our tracking stations, a target warning and tracking system, the interaction of our radio reconnaissance and attack missile batteries.

They try to scan the information they need with provocations.

But it doesn’t work, and it makes them very angry, ”he said.

Such aggressive actions entail a threat to Russian interests, and demonstrate the desire of the armed forces of the NATO countries to constantly carry out full-scale provocations against Russia, said Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University.

“With striking regularity, the naval forces of NATO countries enter the Black Sea and perform actions directed against Russia, in fact, imitating an attack on the sea space and the coast of Russia.

It should be borne in mind that the flagship of the American fleet is equipped with high-precision weapons, and such maneuvers are dangerous, "he explained to RT.

We will remind, at the end of October, Sergei Shoigu said that NATO, against the background of calls to contain Russia, is pulling forces to the borders of the country.

The head of the department stressed that security in Europe can only be common, taking into account the interests of the Russian side, but the North Atlantic alliance is not ready for an equal dialogue on this issue.

NATO has recently repeatedly stated that Russian actions allegedly threaten the security of Europe, and called for the containment of Russia.

Moscow, in turn, called on the alliance to resume dialogue and work to restore relations.

At the same time, in recent years, Russia has repeatedly recorded cases of violations or attempts to violate Russian state borders by military aircraft and ships of NATO member countries.

Moscow called on the alliance to stop provocations and act within the framework of international law.

Vladimir Putin also drew attention to building up NATO's military infrastructure near the Russian borders.

In June, the Russian leader noted that the alliance is refusing to consider Moscow's proposals to "de-escalate tensions and reduce the risk of unpredictable incidents."