Russian frigate fires warning shots at British yacht in Channel

A file photo of the Admiral Grigorovich, which reportedly fired warning shots at a yacht in the Channel. Photograph: MoD Crown Copyright/PA View image in fullscreen A file photo of the Admiral Grigorovich, which reportedly fired warning shots at a yacht in the Channel. Photograph: MoD Crown Copyright/PA Russian frigate fires warning shots at British yacht in Channel Shots fired within 500 metres of vessel near Isle of Wight amid heightened tensions between London and Moscow A Russian warship fired warning shots within a few hundred metres of a British pleasure yacht sailing across the Channel on Tuesday morning amid a period of heightened tensions between London and Moscow. The rare incident took place at 11.40am more than 20 miles south of the Isle of Wight and less than 40 miles north of Normandy, France, when the yacht, identified as the private vessel Bright Future, sailed close to the Admiral Grigorovich and ignored at least one warning. British sources said initial indications were that more than one shot was fired by Russian sailors after the yacht had got close to the heavily armed frigate. “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,” the Ministry of Defence said. Russia’s defence ministry said later the yacht was on a “dangerous course” and that several attempts were made to contact it. Signal rockets were fired, the Russians said, but the yacht continued to within 150 metres before a warning shot was fired. View image in fullscreen Russia’s defence ministry said the Bright Future yacht was on a ‘dangerous course’ and that several attempts were made to contact it. Photograph: Bright Future sailing No injuries or damage were reported by the yacht, which continued its journey, the UK said. Those onboard were visited by a boat sent from HMS Tyne, a Royal Navy patrol vessel, to gather details and check the crew was safe. Jane and Alan Kelvey, a retired British couple, were onboard the 40ft yacht. HMS Tyne checked the couple were safe after they called HM Coastguard. Jane Kelvey told the i Paper that “it was a bit scary” and “certainly unusual” but said they did not fear for their safety. She also told BBC Newsnight: “They gave out five blasts on their horn, which means ‘have you seen us?’ “We immediately turned two degrees to port so they could see we made a deliberate change of course, which meant we had seen them. “A minute or so later, they gave another five blasts on their horn followed by four to five small arms fire, which wasn’t aimed at us, it was warning fire which went up in the air.” The couple took issue with the Russian version of events. Jane added: “They didn’t send up any flares, they didn’t try to radio us, they didn’t look to us like they were adrift, we were definitely not on a collision course. We were going to miss them. It just wasn’t an incident until the gunfire started.” The