The alarm has been raised after an extremely serious and unusual incident in the English Channel. According to a source with knowledge of the incident, sailors aboard a Russian vessel fired warnings at a civilian yacht that approached the warship on Tuesday.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said it was investigating reports of the incident, but clarified that no injuries had been reported.
BREAKING: Sailors on a Russian warship have fired a warning shot at a yacht that came near it in the English Channel today, the MOD has confirmed.
Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke explains what we know so far
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What is the Russian military and where did the episode take place
The incident occurred approximately 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside British territorial waters. The Russian frigate “Admiral Grigorovich” (Admiral Grigorovich) was involved in the incident, which at the time was under close surveillance by a British Royal Navy vessel.
According to the complaint by the crew of the British-flagged yacht, the Russian warship fired warning shots from a distance of about 500 yards (457 meters).
It is noted that in a separate statement issued on Monday, the British Navy confirmed that two British ships were closely monitoring the “Admiral Grigorovich” in the English Channel, west of Brest in France.
London-Moscow relations are on a tightrope
This incident comes at a time when tension in the region is in the red. Just last Sunday, British commandos carried out a raid on a “shadow fleet” that has been sanctioned.
Sunday’s operation was the first of its kind, aimed at cutting off oil revenues that fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The authorities see this as an isolated incident
Despite the close proximity of the two events, the same source said Tuesday’s warning fire incident was not thought to be linked to Sunday’s operation by British commandos and was being treated as an isolated incident.
So far, the Russian embassy in London has not responded to a Reuters request for comment.
