France says no basis to Russian accusations against Britain
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PARIS, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Russian accusations that Britain participated in attacks against the Nord Stream gas pipeline and Russian navy ships in Crimea are without foundation, France’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
The accusations formed part of Moscow’s strategy “to turn attention away from its sole responsibility in the war of aggression that it is conducting against Ukraine,” the ministry’s deputy spokesperson said in a statement.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that British navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, a claim that London said was false and designed to distract from Russian military failures in Ukraine.
Russia did not give evidence for its claim that a leading NATO member had sabotaged critical Russian infrastructure amid the worst crisis in relations between the West and Russia since the depths of the Cold War.
The Russian ministry said that “British specialists” from the same unit directed Ukrainian drone attacks on ships of Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea earlier on Saturday that it said were largely repelled by Russian forces, with minor damage to a Russian minesweeper.
“According to available information, representatives of this unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year – blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines,” the ministry said
Russia said meanwhile that Ukrainian forces attacked ships from the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the biggest city in Russian-annexed Crimea, in the early hours of Saturday.
“Nine unmanned aerial vehicles and seven autonomous marine drones were involved in the attack,” the defence ministry said.
“The preparation of this terrorist act and the training of servicemen of the Ukrainian 73rd Special Center for Naval Operations were carried out under the guidance of British specialists located in the town of Ochakiv.”
All the air drones were destroyed though minor damage was done to the minesweeper Ivan Golubets, the ministry said. Sevastopol is the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
