Russian warship fires warning shots near UK-registered yacht in Channel
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Rachel Flynn,
Matt Murphy,BBC Verifyand
Paul Adams,diplomatic correspondent
Ministry of Defence
The incident on Tuesday involved a Russian frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich
A Russian warship fired warning shots near a UK-registered yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday morning after the two vessels came into close contact.
It involved Russian frigate the Admiral Grigorovich, and happened between the Isle of Wight and Normandy shortly before midday.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has sought to play down what happened, describing it as an isolated incident.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the yacht had been on a "dangerous approach" towards the warship, and its crew fired into its path with rifles after making several attempts to contact it over the radio and after launching warning flares.
It also said its sailors had acted in "strict accordance with international shipping regulations", while the MoD said it was investigating the incident.
A UK government source told BBC News a couple in their 60s were on board the yacht at the time. They said they did not hear when the Russian frigate sounded its horn. No injuries or damage have been reported.
The BBC understands that the small, motor-less yacht had drifted towards the warship in foggy conditions after setting off from the UK.
An MoD spokesperson told the BBC: "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."
A boat from HMS Tyne, a British patrol vessel, was sent to the yacht to gather details and check on the safety of the crew.
The incident comes days after Royal Marine Commandos intercepted a Russian shadow fleet tanker carrying sanctioned oil in the Channel on Sunday, in the first operation of its kind carried out by the British military.
However, British officials do not view the incident as being linked to Sunday's operation.
Russian warships regularly pass through the Channel in international waters and are routinely monitored by Royal Navy vessels.
Officials believe the Admiral Grigorovich was attempting to signal it was drifting rather than being powered by its engines, therefore making it less manoeuvrable - possibly leading its crew to assess it was more vulnerable to a collision.
Footage shows Putin aboard Russia's Admiral Grigorovich frigate in 2025
The Admiral Grigorovich was being shadowed by the HMS Mersey.
On Monday, the Navy said the Admiral Grigorovich had been tracked by the HMS Tyne and HMS Mersey over the weekend, in what it described as a "routine operation" after it was spotted off the coast of Brest in France.
On Tuesday morning, British authorities received reports from the yacht's occupants that the Russian vessel had fired warning shots from around 500 yards (457 meters) away - a relatively near distance by the standards of sea travel.
The incident happened around 20 nautical miles - around 23 standard miles - south of the Isle of Wight, outside UK territorial waters.
Last week, a Nato source told BBC Verify that the Admiral Grigorovich had been ordered by Moscow to escort shadow fleet vessels through the Channel.
The frigate is understood to have been operating in the area for some time and had been repeatedly re-supplied by a repair vessel.
Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify have shown the repair vessel, the PM-82, operating between the Channel and the North Sea in recent months.
Nato officials believe the PM-82 delivered food, water and other supplies to the Admiral Grigorovich, allowing it to stay at sea for extended periods of time and lead Russian convoys though the Channel.
In April, the frigate was reported to have escorted six shadow fleet vessels through the waterway while being monitored by the Royal Navy.
The Royal Navy said in a statement that in April the Grigorovich escorted Russian-flagged vessels heading to and from the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Baltic, including "one submarine and around six merchant and support vessels".
James Parkin, a former Royal Navy rear admiral, says the use of armed force is a last resort, reserved only for self-defence.
"I would not be surprised if it was a miscalculation, rather than a deliberate act to try and fire on a British yacht very close to British waters," he told BBC News.
While the MoD has assessed Tuesday's incident was not linked to the seizure of the Russian shadow fleet tanker at the weekend, Parkin said that had been a "huge embarrassment" for Moscow, given there "is a Russian navy ship in the English Channel who is only there to stop this kind of thing happening".
Coming at a time of heightened tension between the UK and Russia, and on the day when two departing UK defence ministers, in their resignation speeches, sounded the alarm about Russia's increasingly aggressive behaviour, this relatively minor incident has, perhaps inevitably, been magnified.
