A Russian warship in 2016, via REUTERS
A Russian warship fired warning shots on Tuesday in the English Channel at a sailboat sailing under the British flag which was approaching it “dangerously” according to the Russian Defense Ministry, leading the British authorities to open an investigation.
The incident involved the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich and a British-registered sailboat, about 20 nautical miles (about 40 km) south of the Isle of Wight, just outside British territorial waters, a source close to British Defense told AFP.
“After attempts to make contact with a British ship in the Channel, Grigorovich fired warning shots. These were not directed against the ship and were aimed at preventing a possible collision,” said the British Ministry of Defence, which had previously said it was investigating “into reports of an incident in the Channel”.
According to the ministry, this is an “isolated” incident, unrelated to the interception on Sunday by British commandos of an oil tanker suspected of being part of the Russian ghost fleet in the same area of the Channel.
Shots “to attract the attention of the sailboat”
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the incident occurred on Tuesday “at 12:45 p.m.” and “to attract the attention of the crew of the pleasure sailboat, flares and sound signals were launched.” “Despite these measures, the ship continued to approach dangerously. When the distance (between the two ships, editor’s note) fell below 150 meters, the commander of the frigate decided to preemptively open fire on the ship with small arms,” added the Russian ministry. “The sailboat (…) then immediately changed course.”
No injuries or damage were reported after a control visit to another military boat, the HMS Tyne, added the same source.
A Russian ship “closely monitored”
The British navy had previously indicated that it had deployed several patrol boats to monitor the ship, saying that there was “not a single day” in April when the frigate was not “closely monitored”. According to her, Admiral Grigorovich was escorting Russian-flagged ships “to and from the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Baltic”…
