Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Goldie on 6 July (HL 1576) and her remarks on 30 June (HL Deb, col 793) that HMS Defender was “conducting an innocent passage through a stretch of water open to international navigation”, what military operation HMS Defender was engaged in on the Black Sea on 23 June.

HMS DEFENDER was in the Black Sea from 14 June - 2 July 2021 to conduct planned defence engagement activity with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Georgia as a disaggregated unit of the Carrier Strike Group. These events focused on the UK's commitment to Black Sea security through capability demonstrations and exercising with other NATO allies and partners who operate in the Black Sea.