A retired British couple have described the moment a Russian frigate fired warning shots at their 40ft yacht in the English Channel, an encounter they branded 'totally unnecessary' and based on 'just normal lies'.
Jane Kelvey, 68, and her husband Alan, 70, were sailing their yacht Bright Future from Lymington to Cherbourg, France, on Tuesday morning when the Russian warship Admiral Grigorovich opened fire. The incident occurred around 11.40am, about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside UK territorial waters.
“Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots at British yacht Bright Future; pensioner couple unharmed, call it 'scary' and 'totally unnecessary'.”
'I crouched down. I didn't think our safety was in danger. But it was certainly unusual,' Mrs Kelvey told The i Paper. 'As we sailed away, we said to each other, what the hell just happened?'
The Ministry of Defence said the warning shots were 'not aimed at the vessel' and were fired to prevent a possible collision after the Russian vessel attempted to contact the yacht. The Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey was monitoring the frigate at the time, and a boat from HMS Tyne later visited the yacht to gather details and check on the couple's safety.
The Russian defence ministry claimed on Telegram that the yacht was on a 'dangerous approach' and that the frigate's crew had used flares and sound signals before firing pre-emptively when the distance closed to 150 metres. It said the sailors acted 'in strict accordance' with international regulations.
But the Kelveys insisted they heard no radio contact from the warship. 'It's just not true. They're blaming us, and as far as we're concerned, we were blameless,' Mrs Kelvey told BBC Newsnight. She noted the Russian ship was not showing up on the automatic identification system (AIS) tracking system.
'We didn't have any contact from them on our radio,' she added. The couple heard five horn blasts before the gunshots, then another five as they moved away. 'They were warning shots, fired in the air – they weren't firing at us,' Mrs Kelvey said, though she called the action 'totally unnecessary'.
Her husband Alan told The Mirror: 'It was a bit scary.' Speaking to Metro, the couple said they 'would have fired back if we had something.'
The MoD is treating the incident as isolated and not linked to the UK's interception of the Russian shadow fleet tanker MV Smyrtos by Royal Marine commandos and National Crime Agency officers on Sunday. 'We are investigating reports of an incident in the Channel,' an MoD spokesperson said.
No injuries or damage were reported, and the yacht continued its journey.