Fishermen see off Russian navy: Irish boat crews send Vladimir Putin’s sailors packing after vowing to disrupt planned war games off island’s coast
- Irish trawlermen threatened to disrupt war games off Ireland’s south-west coast
- The fisherman had pledged to send up to 60 trawlers between the battleships
- Russia’s ambassador to Ireland says that the fleet will now relocate the exercise
Fishermen have sent the Russian navy packing after standing up to Vladimir Putin’s plans to hold war games off Ireland’s south-west coast.
The Kremlin backed down after the Irish trawlermen threatened to disrupt drills due to take place within Ireland’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) this week.
In a first victory for the West against Moscow’s provocations in Ukraine and beyond, Yury Filatov, Russia’s ambassador to Ireland, finally buckled under the pressure this weekend.
The Kremlin backed down after the Irish trawlermen threatened to disrupt drills due to take place within Ireland’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) this week. A Russian ship is pictured above in the Black Sea
Mr Filatov said the Russian fleet would relocate the exercise outside of the EEZ ‘as a gesture of goodwill’.
He retreated after the fisherman pledged to send up to 60 trawlers between the battleships to disrupt the manoeuvres.
Mr Filatov had earlier played down the exercises 150 miles off the coast of Cork, claiming they involved just ‘three or four ships’ and that he was unaware if missiles would be fired.
Mr Filatov said the Russian fleet would relocate the exercise outside of the EEZ ‘as a gesture of goodwill’. A Russian ship is pictured above in Sevastopol, Crimea
The fishermen said the area is home to half a billion tons of blue whiting and that seismic shocks from missiles could affect the migration patterns of tuna.
They also said their industry had taken ‘as much as it can possibly take’.
Brendan Byrne, of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, said he ‘welcomed the sensible decision’ by the Kremlin to back down.
Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney tweeted: ‘This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Ireland’s EEZ. I welcome this response.’