LONDON, United Kingdom — A Russian naval warship fired warning shots near a United Kingdom-registered yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday, prompting an investigation by the British Ministry of Defence amid heightened tensions between London and Moscow.
The incident involved the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich and a UK-registered yacht approximately 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, just outside British territorial waters, a UK defence source told AFP . The UK-registered yacht alleged that the Russian vessel fired the warning shots at a distance of roughly 500 yards .
The Russian defence ministry confirmed the incident, stating that signal flares were fired and audible signals were sounded to attract the attention of the yacht, which it said was making a “dangerous approach” . “Despite these measures, the vessel continued its dangerous approach,” the Russian defence ministry said, adding that the frigate’s commander decided to fire warning shots in the vessel’s direction using the ship’s small arms .
A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We are investigating reports of an incident in the Channel” . The defence source indicated that the incident was being treated as an isolated case and was not linked to a separate UK operation over the weekend in which British commandos intercepted and boarded a suspected Russian shadow fleet vessel in the same part of the Channel .
No injuries or damage were reported by the yacht, which continued its journey after a welfare visit by a seaboat dispatched from British naval vessel HMS Tyne . Another British naval vessel, HMS Mersey, was monitoring the Russian ship at the time of the incident .
The incident coincided with G7 leaders gathering in eastern France and agreeing on Tuesday to intensify pressure on Russia to end its war against Ukraine . Steve Prest, an associate fellow at the RUSI think tank and retired British navy commodore, suggested that the warning shots could have been the warship “getting a bit nervous” but noted that in the context of recent UK actions against Russia’s shadow fleet, “I think this is the Russians baring their teeth” .
The Royal Navy has previously deployed multiple patrol ships to monitor the Admiral Grigorovich, which has reportedly escorted tankers from Russia’s shadow fleet through the Channel .
