British couple accuse Russian warship of “normal lies” after Channel warning shots

A Russian warship fired warning shots after nearly colliding with a British sailing yacht just 150 meters away in the English Channel, according to the Kremlin.

The Russian defense ministry confirmed the near-miss involving the Bright Future and Admiral Grigorovich occurred between the Isle of Wight and Normandy around 11:40 am on Tuesday.

The British-flagged 40ft sailing yacht was carrying Jane Kelvey, 68, and her husband Alan, 70, when the incident occurred.

A statement from Putin’s regime indicated that the Bright Future was on a dangerous course and they "attempted to contact the civilian vessel on the international radio channel."

It added that after attempts to make contact, "there was no change in the yacht’s course or response to the international radio channel requests."

The Kremlin statement continued: "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.

"After closing the distance to 150 meters, 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.

"The crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich acted in strict accordance with international shipping regulations and took all necessary measures to prevent the incident."

It maintains that the frigate’s crew’s actions were in accordance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.

The incident, at around 11:40 am this morning, is understood to have involved the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich in the sea between the Isle of Wight and Normandy.

“It seems like it was quite foggy earlier in the day and it got a bit too close to the Grigorovich,” a defense source told The Times, describing it as a “near-miss situation.”

But the Russian claims have been rubbished by the Kelveys.

Regarding the incident, Mrs. Kelvey said: “It was a bit scary. I crouched down.

"I didn’t think our safety was in danger. But it was certainly unusual. As we sailed away, we said to each other, what the hell just happened?”

The warship had been drifting rather than being maneuvered under power, it is understood.

Mrs. Kelvey, who retired in 2023 alongside her husband, said the shots were “totally unnecessary,” adding: “We didn’t have any contact from them (Admiral Grigorovich) on our radio.”

The Kelveys insisted they were not on a collision course, and Mr. Kelvey described the Russian statement as “just normal lies.”

Mrs. Kelvey later said: “It’s just not true. They’re blaming us, and as far as we’re concerned, we were blameless.”

The 68-year-old said the Russian warship did not appear on the automatic identification system (AIS), a maritime tracking system.

“It wasn’t showing up on AIS,” she said. “Normally when you’re sailing across the Channel, if a convoy of warships goes past, you get a message on VHF (very high frequency radio) saying give a one nautical mile exclusion zone, or something like that, but there was nothing.

“They didn’t radio us, they could have seen us coming from miles off, because we were displaying our AIS. The first thing we knew was the five blasts (of a horn), we turned to port, followed by the next five blasts, and then the gunfire, and so we just turned.”

“There were none of these flares like they say in their statement,” Mr. Kelvey said.

His wife added: “They didn’t send up any flares, they didn’t try to radio us, they weren’t, they didn’t look to us like they were adrift, and we were definitely not on a collision course.”

Investigations are still ongoing to establish exactly what happened.

The Grigorovich is part of Putin’s Black Sea fleet and carries heavy armaments including cruise missiles. It has been deployed near British waters for some weeks, escorting tankers linked to Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’.

It has been spotted escorting Russian shadow fleet tankers and has been near British waters for several weeks, including near a wind farm off the Suffolk coast.

Before the shots were fired, two Royal Navy offshore patrol vessels, HMS Mersey and HMS Tyne followed it through the Channel.

The Ministry of Defence said in a statement: “Following attempts to contact a British vessel in the channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots. These were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision.”

"We assess that this is an isolated incident and not linked to the UK’s interception of the Smyrtos this weekend. HMS Mersey has been monitoring the Russian vessel and support has been provided to the crew of the yacht."

The warning shots are understood to have hit the water around 500 yards from the civilian craft.

The incident happened about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside UK territorial waters.

The UK flagged craft reported no damage or injuries and continued on its journey. A sea boat from HMS Tyne was dispatched to the yacht to gather details and check on those on board.

It is being dealt with as an isolated incident not linked to the UK interception of shadow fleet ship Smyrtos.

It is the latest sign of rising tensions between the UK and Vladimir Putin’s country.

In an 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.

Yesterday the captain of a Russian shadow fleet vessel which was intercepted by British troops was charged with contravening sanctions.

Indian national Ajay Pant, 38, was charged with directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil or oil products from Russia to a third country in June 2026, in contravention of Regulation 46Z9B of the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the NCA said on Monday.

The tanker was raided by Royal Marines during the early hours of Sunday morning, and was formally detained and sanctioned by the UK.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that Royal Marine commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the National Crime Agency boarded a sanctioned oil tanker during a six-hour operation – the first UK-led operation of its kind.