Russia Fires "Warning Shots" At Turkish Boat

Russian says one of its warship has fired warning shots at a Turkish fishing vessel in order to avoid a collision.

A statement from the country's defence ministry said the Turkish boat changed course after coming within 600m of the frigate Smetlivy, which was anchored just off the Greek island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea.

"Despite numerous attempts by the crew of the Smetlivy, the crew of the Turkish fishing boat did not make radio contact and did not respond to visual signals by semaphore or warning flares," the statement said.

To prevent a collision, "small arms were fired in the direction of the Turkish vessel from a range that is not lethal".

The ministry added that "immediately after that the Turkish vessel drastically changed course" and passed within 500m of the Smetlivy, still making no contact with the Russian crew.

Turkey has not yet responded, although the country's military attache in Moscow has been summoned to the foreign ministry over the incident.

It comes with relations already strained between the two nations after the shooting down of a Russian bomber by Turkey last month. Russia responded by imposing economic sanctions.

Last week, meanwhile, Turkey called on Russia to end "provocative acts" after images were captured of a Russian soldier pointing a missile launcher as his warship navigated through Istanbul. The Kremlin said the crew had a "legal right" to protect their ship.