Russian warship fires warning shots near British yacht in English Channel

Those on board the British yacht contacted French authorities, alleging that the Russian Navy vessel fired warning shots at a distance of around 500 yards.

The shots were fired around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside UK territorial waters. British and French vessels began mobilising in response, with offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey monitoring the Admiral Grigorovich at the time of the incident.

A boat from HMS Tyne, another patrol vessel, was sent to the yacht to gather details and check on the safety of the crew.

Although investigations to determine what happened are still ongoing, defence sources cited by Sky News suggest the shots were fired to warn the yacht not to get too close to avoid a collision, after the frigate appeared to have trouble moving - perhaps due to engine trouble.

The shots "were certainly not fired at the yacht", the defence source claimed, adding that such a course of action was perfectly reasonable.

No injuries or damage have been reported by the yacht, which is understood to be continuing its journey. A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson said: "We are investigating reports of an incident in the Channel."

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed in a statement that the warship fired shots "preemptively" because it said the vessel came dangerously close to crashing into the Admiral Grigorovich, at one point closing the gap to just 150 metres.

"Today, June 16 at 12:45, the crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich in the English Channel discovered the civilian sailing yacht Bright Future, flying the British flag, which was following a dangerous course under engines to approach the ship," the ministry wrote.

"In accordance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, the frigate’s crew made several attempts to contact the civilian vessel on the international radio channel. There was no change in the yacht’s course or response to the international radio channel requests.

"To attract the attention of the yacht’s crew, flares were fired and sound signals were sounded. Despite these measures, the vessel continued its dangerous approach."

The ministry added: "After closing the distance to 150 metres, the frigate’s commander decided to fire pre-emptively at the vessel’s course with small arms. The British-flagged yacht then immediately changed course and continued moving away from the Russian warship."

It comes amid rising tensions between the UK and Russia. In a separate operation on Sunday, Royal Marine commandos and officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) boarded the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker Smyrtos in the Channel.

The MoD said it is not treating Tuesday’s incident as linked to the UK’s interception of the MV Smyrtos.

The seizure of the vessel was the first such action by British forces, although the UK had previously helped allies targeting sanctioned tankers.

The captain of the tanker, which was carrying 98,000 tonnes of oil, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with breaching sanctions.

A security management expert, however, has warned against linking the two incidents. "This kind of thing does happen everywhere all of the time, I honestly don’t think there’s a link here," he told the PA News agency. "If Russia was going to respond, then they would do against probably a commercial ship."

He added: "Warships, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, are entitled to self-defence. If a ship, yacht, etc is approaching, the rules of force escalation will start with a VHF (very high frequency radio) warning, and if there is no response the next escalation is a more intense warning, and then up to warning shots, which is where we got to here.."

The Admiral Grigorovich, part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, has been spotted lurking just on the edge of British waters on several occasions in recent months, which analysts believe is designed to provoke nearby naval ships.

Labour MP Tan Dhesi said: "The incident in the Channel is still under investigation, and we will need to wait to understand exactly what has happened today. However, it was already clear that the UK finds itself in a deeply dangerous world. While we face a range of serious challenges, Russia poses the most direct and pressing threat."