A Russian frigate opened fire in the English Channel on Tuesday, firing warning shots with small arms near a civilian yacht, authorities said.
The warship Admiral Grigorovich fired the shots in the path of the Bright Future, a UK-registered sailing yacht, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.
The defense ministry said the frigate had attempted to contact the Bright Future with radio, signal flares, and sound signals, but opened fire after receiving no response and seeing the yacht “following a dangerous course.”
“After closing the distance to 150 meters, the frigate’s commander decided to carry out the preemptive fire at the vessel’s course with small arms,” the ministry said.
A retired British couple on board the Bright Future, Jane and Alan Kelvey, told the BBC they were sailing 23 miles from the coast of the Isle of Wight when they encountered the warship.
Jane Kelvey told the outlet that the two vessels were not on a collision course and that the Bright Future had adjusted its path after the Admiral Grigorovich issued five horn blasts.
The incident follows the UK’s Royal Marines’ separate seizure of the MV Smyrtos, a tanker believed to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet, off the southern coast of England on Sunday.
The boarding operation was a first for the UK, involving two British warships, reconnaissance aircraft, and helicopters.
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While both events occurred in the English Channel, the UK defense ministry said that the seizure and Tuesday’s warning shots from the Admiral Grigorovich were isolated incidents.
Still, the Russian navy has been repeatedly reported to be escorting shadow fleet tankers in convoys. The Admiral Grigorovich, part of the Black Sea Fleet, was spotted convoying two tankers in the English Channel in April, just after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had given British forces the authority to seize shadow fleet vessels.
The 409-foot-long guided-missile frigate is the lead ship of its class and was commissioned in 2016. The ship’s main armament consists of eight vertical launch cells for land-attack cruise missiles and a 100mm naval gun.
