British warships will not be deterred from sailing through disputed waters around Crimea despite an incident with Russian forces, the UK says.
Cabinet minister George Eustice denied Russian reports that warning shots were fired on Wednesday at HMS Defender.
He said it was important "not to get carried away" by what was a staged "gunnery exercise" in the area.
Defender was following international law and the UK had "never accepted the annexation of Crimea", he added.
More than 20 Russian aircraft and two coastguard ships shadowed HMS Defender on Wednesday as it was sailing off the coast of Crimea.
Moscow's defence ministry said a patrol ship fired warning shots and a jet dropped bombs in the Royal Naval ship's path.
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