Russia says monitoring Black Sea military drills involving U.S., Ukraine - RIA

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday it was monitoring the movements of international ships participating in 'Sea Breeze' military exercises in the Black Sea, the RIA news agency reported.

The exercises, which involve NATO countries and others, come amid a rise in tensions between the Atlantic alliance and Moscow.

Last week Russia said it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of Black Sea waters off the coast of Crimea. Britain rejected Russia's account of the incident.

(Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Gareth Jones)