DISINFO: The HMS Defender’s entry into Russian territorial waters was a deliberate provocation
SUMMARY
The HMS Defender’s entry into Russian territorial waters was a violation of Russian territorial integrity and a deliberate provocation by the United Kingdom and the United States.
RESPONSE
A claim that the HMS defender violated Russian territorial waters, and that it consequently breached maritime law rests on an assumption that Russian illegal annexation of Crimea was in fact in accordance with international law. However, the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula lacks recognition by both Ukraine and the international community as a whole.
Moreover, since HMS Defender’s passage was continuous and expeditious, and since there is no indication that HMS Defender ever used a threat of force or any similar action, Defender conducted innocent passage in full accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to which both UK and Russia are members.
This disinformation narrative is closely related to various accusations of western provocations against Russia, while it also relies on pro-Russian narratives regarding the lawful status of Crimea as part of the Russian federation.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that the UK violated the 1982 Law of the Seas Treaty, or that an entry of HMS Defender was a deliberate act.