The United Kingdom said a Russian warship fired warning shots near a British yacht, just beyond its territorial waters, in an attempt to avoid a possible collision.
The British government received reports from a UK-registered yacht that the Russian Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate fired the shots from a distance of about 450 meters, near a point 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) south of the Isle of Wight.
There were no reports of injuries or damage, and the United Kingdom is treating the case as an isolated incident, unlinked to its military operation against a sanctioned oil tanker carried out on Sunday, officials said.
In the assessment of the British government, it was an episode of the type near miss at sea — when a vessel comes too close to another at sea and is warned to move away. According to these authorities, who requested anonymity due to department policy, the sailboat came too close to the frigate and was warned to change course. The shots were not fired directly at the yacht.
“After attempts to contact a British vessel in the channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement. “The shots were not directed at the vessel and were intended to avoid a possible collision.”
“HMS Mersey had been monitoring the Russian vessel, and support was provided to the yacht’s crew,” the ministry added.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the incident. In a statement released at the end of Tuesday, the ministry stated that the yacht approached the frigate and did not respond to repeated radio calls, flares and sound signals until warning shots were fired.
“After reducing the distance to 150 meters, the frigate’s commander decided to preemptively open fire with small arms on the vessel. After that, the British-flagged yacht immediately changed course and moved away from the Russian warship,” the Russian ministry said in a statement published on Telegram.
“The crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich acted in strict accordance with international navigation regulations and took all necessary measures to prevent the incident,” he added.
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According to British authorities, the yacht continued its journey and received a visit from a British vessel to gather details of the episode and check the safety of the passengers. At that time, a British Navy patrol vessel was monitoring the Russian ship, which had been in the canal for several weeks.
The episode marks a new escalation in tension between Russia and NATO. In recent months, Russia has been testing the military alliance’s airspace, including with drones and warplanes. The case comes shortly after the first UK-led operation to target Russia’s so-called ghost fleet, which took place on Sunday.
Royal Navy commandos and agents from the National Crime Agency boarded the ship Smyrtos in British territorial waters. The vessel was then taken to an anchorage area off the south coast of England for authorities to carry out a separate investigation. The ship’s captain was charged with allegedly violating sanctions.
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The UK said the action was conducted on the basis of domestic legislation and international law, after the Prime Minister Keir Starmer approve, in March, the approach of ghost fleet vessels. According to the government, the ship was targeted in the operation as part of efforts to enforce sanctions aimed at reducing revenue used to finance the president’s war. Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
The United Kingdom has already sanctioned almost 600 vessels linked to Russia’s ghost fleet, which, according to London, totals more than 700 ships and transports approx. three-quarters of sanctioned Russian oil. The British government claims that UK-sanctioned ships carried $1.6 billion less in Russian oil in the first quarter of 2025 compared to a year earlier.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
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