DISINFO: The Netherlands is the new Western provocator in the Black Sea
SUMMARY
A day after Russian border control fired warning shots at a British warship, a new [Dutch] provocator appeared near the Crimean peninsula.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative spread by pro-Kremlin outlets aimed at justifying the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine's territorial integrity and at portraying European countries as provocative parties to the Ukrainian crisis.
On 29 June 2021, the Defence Ministry of the Netherlands reported that Russian warplanes repeatedly flew low over a Dutch navy frigate in the Black Sea and carried out “mock attacks”. The incident involved the Dutch ship Evertsen southeast of Crimea that has been occupied by Russian forces since February 2014.
The incident came a day after Russian forces fired warning shots at a British destroyer called HMS Defender to force it out of an area near Crimea that Russia claims as its territorial waters. Reiterating the Russian navy's explanation, the British government said that the destroyer "was conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law".
The Dutch Evertsen was patrolling in the Black Sea with HMS Defender, the British ship that was involved in that incident.
While Russia claims Crimea to be its own territory, the vast majority of the international community refuses to recognise the Kremlin's authority. Russia occupied Crimea in March 2014. No international body has recognised the so-called referendum in Crimea in 2014, not the UN, nor the EU or the UK. The UNGA Resolution 68/262, which condemned Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine, was supported by 100 United Nations member states. Only 10 states opposed it.
See similar cases of disinformation spread by pro-Kremlin media outlets about the case of the HMS Defender here.