6 things to know as Russian warship Admiral Grigorovich ‘fired warning shots in Channel’ | UK | News
Admiral Grigorovich is a Russian warship (file image) (Image: MOD)
5 things you need to know as Russian warship Admiral Grigorovich ‘fired warning shots in the Channel’
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A Russian warship Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots near a small British-registered yacht in the English Channel on Tuesday. The incident occurred at around 11.40 am, outside British territorial waters, in the sea between the White Island and Normandy.
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The motorless yacht is understood to have alerted British authorities, claiming the warship fired warning shots from a distance of about 500 metres. No injuries or damage were reported. It is understood that a marine boat belonging to patrol ship HMS Tyne was sent to the yacht to gather details and check the safety of the crew.
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Defense sources suggested that the Russian warship was first thought to have given an audible warning when it was reported that the yacht was drifting towards the military ship in poor visibility. The sources added that warning shots were only later fired by the Russian ship to further warn the small boat, which reportedly did not change course and was not thought to have fired directly at the yacht.
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“Reports of an incident on the canal are being investigated,” a Ministry of Defense spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
- Russia said one of its frigates fired a warning shot “preemptively”. In its statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the yacht “followed a dangerous route” towards the warship. Russia said that “the frigate crew made many attempts to communicate with the civilian ship via the international radio channel” but “there was no change” in the yacht’s course or response. Russia said that after flares were fired and sound signals did not work, “the frigate commander decided to open preemptive fire on the ship’s course with small arms”, which led to the yacht changing course.
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Russian warships passing through the English Channel are routinely shadowed by the Royal Navy and offshore patrol ship HMS Mersey is believed to be monitoring Admiral Grigorovich today. The same Russian ship was being tracked by Tyne and Mersey on Sunday in what was described as a “routine operation” over the weekend after it was spotted off the French coast of Brest.
