Today's D Brief: Black Sea drama; DepSecDef wants better AI protection; Austin splits with chiefs over UCMJ reform; China’s infowar; And a bit more.
Ben Watson and Bradley Peniston | June 23, 2021 10:42 AM ET
It’s getting cheeky in the Black Sea today, where Russia’s military claims it fired warning shots at and air-dropped explosives close to a nearby British Royal Navy vessel. The incident occurred around noon local time south of Sevastopol, near Cape Fiolent on Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
But the Brits say the Russians aren’t being truthful. And the UK Ministry of Defense tweeted this morning, “No warning shots have been fired at HMS Defender…We believe the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise in the Black Sea and provided the maritime community with prior-warning of their activity. No shots were directed at HMS Defender and we do not recognise the claim that bombs were dropped in her path.” And despite those denials, “[T]his is still being seen as a provocative act by Russia,” Deborah Haynes of the UK’s Sky News reports.
Curious sidebar about the HMS Defender: It was the scene of a recent signing ceremony between Ukrainian and British naval officials linking the two nations “and their industrial partners.” More on that from the British MoD, here.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/06/the-d-brief-june-23-2021/174895/
