A Russian warship fired warning shots near a UK-registered, motor-less yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday morning, the Ministry of Defence said, after the small vessel drifted toward the larger ship roughly 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight.
The frigate involved was the Admiral Grigorovich, and British authorities say the shots were fired outside UK territorial waters between the Isle of Wight and Normandy; no injuries or damage to the yacht have been reported.
Occupants of the yacht told British authorities they heard warning shots from about 500 yards (457 metres) away. Other reporting indicates the frigate first sounded an audible warning to get the drifting yacht to move before firing; the Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We are investigating reports of an incident in the Channel."
The incident took place in foggy conditions after the small, motor-less yacht had set off from the UK and drifted toward the warship, according to accounts of the encounter.
The Admiral Grigorovich had been operating in the area for some time and was being monitored by Royal Navy vessels. The frigate was thought to have been shadowed by HMS Mersey during the incident, and on Monday the Navy said it had tracked the ship over the weekend with HMS Tyne and HMS Mersey after it was spotted off the coast of Brest, France.
A NATO source said last week the Admiral Grigorovich had been ordered by Moscow to escort shadow fleet vessels through the Channel, and in April the frigate was reported to have escorted six shadow fleet vessels through the waterway while being monitored by the Royal Navy.
British officials have opened an investigation but do not view this episode as linked to a separate operation on Sunday when Royal Marine Commandos intercepted a shadow fleet tanker carrying sanctioned oil in the Channel — the first operation of its kind carried out by the British military.
The immediate contradiction in accounts is a central tension: the yacht crew’s report that shots were fired from roughly 500 yards contrasts with the official account that the frigate issued an audible warning first and then fired to compel the vessel to move. Both accounts agree the yacht suffered no damage and no one was hurt.
The sharp factual question for investigators is whether the yacht’s drift in foggy conditions was the sole cause of the escalation or whether the frigate’s actions followed a different sequence than currently described. The Royal Navy’s routine tracking of Russian warships in the Channel and repeated resupply of the frigate by a repair vessel are in play as investigators piece the timeline together.
The Ministry of Defence investigation will be the next step in determining the exact sequence and whether any further action is required; no outcome has been confirmed and officials have released only limited detail as they seek to reconcile the differing accounts of distance and warning behaviour.
