Two servicemen taking cover on the deck of Russian warship "Caesar Kunikov" as it was passing through the Bosphorus Strait en route to the Black Sea will likely further increase tension in relations between Moscow and Ankara. The relationship remains uneasy in the wake of the plane crisis.
In late 2015, the Turkish government accused Russia of provocation after a serviceman held a surface-to-air missile in firing position on the deck of the same naval ship while it was passing through the Strait on its way to the Mediterranean Sea on December 7. Turkey summoned Russian envoy Andrey Karlov to protest the provocative passing of a Russian warship through the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.
The Turkish coast guard tagged the Russian warship during its passage through the Bosphorus Strait. The servicemen onboard the Caesar Kunikov crossing the Bosphorus Strait were photographed taking cover with automatic weapons.
In early March, a Kashin-class Russian destroyer, Semetlivy, sailed from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea in a defiant manner. Footage shown on Turkish news channels, showed at least four servicemen standing on deck and in the deck house of the destroyer while it was passing through the Bosphorus en route to Marmara Sea on Monday. The sailing of the destroyer with bow number 870, based in Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet, was seen as a low-profile provocation in itself.
Diplomatic ties between the two former allies have remained strained since Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet which violated its airspace on November 24, 2015. Since then, Russia has denied any violation and claimed its Su-24 bomber was in Syria's air space for anti-Daesh campaign.
