A British couple targeted by a Russian warship in the English Channel have vowed that Vladimir Putin will not ruin their summer getaway, before demanding a well-deserved nap. Retired Jane Kelvey, 68, and her husband Alan, 70, found themselves at the centre of a terrifying international incident when a Russian frigate opened fire near their vessel. Despite the high-seas drama, the resilient duo refuse to pack up their sails. After catching up on some much-needed shut-eye in Cherbourg, northern France, they have already shifted their focus to more important things, like England's chances in the World Cup.
Speaking from their leisure yacht, Bright Future, an exhausted Jane laughed off the geopolitical chaos. She told the Daily Mail: "This has blown up out of all proportion. We were up until 1am dealing with this after sailing for 13 hours. We need a nap this afternoon."
The dramatic standoff unfolded 23 miles off the Isle of Wight at 11.40am on Tuesday, when the couple crossed paths with the imposing Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich. Suddenly, the silence of the sea was shattered by four or five terrifying noises "like a whip crack" after the warship sounded its horn. But Jane insists they did absolutely nothing wrong, fiercely defending her husband's maritime credentials.
She said: "My husband has been sailing since he was 11. Ours is just a normal yacht, it's not an expensive yacht. We're not idiot pensioners. We weren't drunk. We still have no idea why the Russians decided to fire warning shots, but it was completely and utterly unnecessary. We were absolutely in the right."
In a desperate bid to stop a full-blown diplomatic crisis, Ministry of Defence sources tried to downplay the clash. Insiders even tried to shift the blame onto the British pensioners, suggesting they sailed too close in thick fog and ignored warning flares. Alan blasted the MoD's claims as "rubbish," while Jane joked about the staggering stakes of their afternoon sail. She said: "We don't want World War Three to start because of this."
According to Jane, the Russians completely lied by claiming the yacht was under power. Under maritime law, the couple were actually under sail, meaning they legally had the right of way. She said: "We weren't on a collision course, we were just going to go past the Russian vessel. There was absolutely nothing to see here. It was just straightforward sailing." She added that the hostile warship gave zero radio warnings before pulling the trigger, despite their automatic identification system (AIS) being fully active.
Jane said: "If they wanted to get in touch with us, they could easily have done it on the radio, which we had switched on. We were fully listening out, but they didn't put any messages out." When the warship blasted its horn five times, the global signal for confusion, the couple immediately tried to steer clear. Jane said: "When we got the first five blasts of their horn, we deliberately changed our course and they would have seen that. Then they gave another five blasts, and then they fired the gunshots." Stunned by the gunfire, she added: "We just thought, 'What the hell was that?'"
Now safe in France, the couple are putting the Kremlin drama behind them to focus on the football and local politics. Jane said: "Whether we win or lose in the football, that will be more interesting, and we'll be following the by-election tomorrow." But fans hoping the couple would stay up for the big match against Croatia last night will be disappointed. Jane said: "That would be fun, but I think we need an early night."
