Russia’s defence ministry says one of its warships fired warning shots at a Turkish vessel in Aegean Sea on Sunday to avoid a collision.

A ministry statement says the destroyer Smetlivy was unable to establish radio contact with the approaching Turkish ship, which also failed to respond to visual signals and flares.

When the vessel was 600 metres away, the destroyer fired with small arms and the Turkish vessel quickly changed course.

“The crew of the Russian patrol ship Smetlivy which was located 22km from the Greek island of Lemnos in the northern part of the Aegean Sea avoided collision with a Turkish seiner,” the defence ministry told AFP news agency.

At 0603 GMT the Russian warship, which was at anchor, spotted a Turkish fishing boat some 1,000 metres away, the defence ministry said, adding the boat had been approaching it from the right.

Turkey’s military attache in Moscow has been summoned by the defence ministry over the incident.

Tensions between Moscow and Ankara have been heightened since a Turkish jet downed a Russian bomber along the Syrian border last month, killing one of the two pilots.

Source:Al jazeera