A Russian warship fired warning shots at a UK-registered yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday, according to authorities. The incident occurred approximately 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, involving the frigate Admiral Grigorovich and the 40ft yacht Bright Future, crewed by retired couple Jane and Alan Kelvey.
The Kelveys, aged 68 and 70, described the encounter as “a bit scary” but reported no injuries or damage. Mrs Kelvey told BBC Newsnight the situation was “just surreal” and dismissed the Russian defence ministry’s claim that the yacht was on a dangerous approach as “just normal lies”. The Russian ministry stated that warning shots were fired after signal flares and sound signals failed to draw the yacht’s attention, and that its sailors acted in accordance with international regulations.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the shots were not aimed at the vessel but were an attempt to prevent a possible collision. The offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey was monitoring the Russian frigate, as is routine for Russian warships in the Channel, and a seaboat from HMS Tyne was dispatched to check on the yacht’s crew.
The Conservative Party called the incident “hugely concerning”, with shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge stating: “This shows, yet again, that Russia poses a direct threat to our nation.” The incident occurred two days after Royal Marine commandos and National Crime Agency officers boarded the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker Smyrtos in the Channel, whose captain appeared in court on the same day charged with breaching sanctions.
Martin Kelly of EOS Risk cautioned against linking the two events, noting that warships are entitled to self-defence and that such warnings are standard procedure. He said: “If a ship, yacht, etc is approaching, the rules of force escalation will start with a VHF warning… and then up to warning shots, which is where we got to here.”
