‘It was surreal’: British couple describe receiving warning shots fired near them by Russian warship
Rachel Flynn,
Paul Adams,diplomatic correspondentAnd
Victoria Derbyshire,BBC Newsnight
A retired British couple who were on a yacht where warning shots were fired by a Russian warship in the English Channel have described the “surreal” experience to the BBC.
Jane and Alan Kelvey were sailing 23 miles off the Isle of Wight when they came into close contact with the Russian frigate, Admiral Grigorovich.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the shooting in the path of the UK-registered yacht as “reckless”, while the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said it was an “isolated incident”.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the yacht was on a “dangerous approach” to the warship, but the couple said they were “definitely not on a collision course.”
Recounting the incident on Tuesday morning, Jane Kelvey told BBC Newsnight: “[The warship] honked five times, meaning “have you seen us?” »
“We immediately turned two degrees to port so they could see that we had deliberately changed course, which meant we had seen them.
“Then about a minute later, they blew their horn five more times, immediately followed by four to five small arms shots.
“It wasn’t aimed at us, it was a warning shot that went up into the air, we think.”
Russian warships regularly pass through the international waters of the English Channel, distinct from British and French territorial waters. The ships are regularly monitored by Royal Navy ships.
In a statement released Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Admiral Grigorovich’s crew fired rifles into the yacht’s path after making several attempts to contact the yacht by radio and launching flares.
He added that his sailors had acted in “strict compliance with international maritime regulations”.
Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Sir Keir said the incident “should not have happened” and expressed sympathy for the couple, who he said must have felt “terrified”.
“What happened in the English Channel was deeply concerning. It was reckless. The Ministry of Defense made an assessment. Their assessment is that the Russian ship was drifting, and it was warning shots, and so it’s important in that context,” he added.
A Ministry of Defense spokesperson told the BBC: “Following attempts to contact a British ship in the canal, the Grigorovich fired warning shots.
“These were not aimed at the vessel and were intended to prevent a possible collision.”
Jane said their yacht, the Bright Future, was “definitely not on a collision course.”
“As far as we’re concerned, it wasn’t an incident until the shots started,” she said.
She called the shooting “completely unnecessary” and said she reported the incident as a navigation hazard “because that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
The incident occurred at approximately 20 nautical miles – approximately 23 standard miles – south of the Isle of Wight, outside British territorial waters.
British authorities said they received information from the yacht’s occupants on Tuesday morning that a Russian ship had fired warning shots from about 500 yards (457m) away – a relatively close distance by the standards of maritime travel.
The BBC understands the yacht drifted towards the warship in foggy conditions after leaving the UK.
British officials believe that Admiral Grigorovich was trying to signal that the frigate was drifting rather than being powered by its engines, thus making it less maneuverable – which may have led its crew to assess that it was more vulnerable to collision.
A boat from HMS Tyne, a British patrol vessel, was sent to the yacht to gather details and check the safety of the crew.
When BBC Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire asked the couple if they were scared after hearing the gunshots, they told her no.
Jane joked that she simply crouched down and put her canvas hood over her head “to protect her” while her husband continued to lead.
The Defense Ministry said the shooting was not linked to the seizure of the tanker on Sunday.
Admiral Grigorovich was being followed by HMS Mersey, as he had been for several days after being spotted off the coast of Brest in France, in what the Royal Navy described as a “routine operation”.
Last week, a NATO source told BBC Verify that Admiral Grigorovich had received orders from Moscow to escort the Phantom Fleet ships across the English Channel.
The frigate has reportedly been operating in the area for some time and has been resupplied several times by a repair ship.
Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify showed the repair ship, PM-82, operating between the English Channel and the North Sea in recent months.
NATO officials believe the PM-82 delivered food, water and other supplies to Admiral Grigorovich, allowing him to stay at sea for long periods and lead Russian convoys across the English Channel.
In April, the frigate reportedly escorted six Phantom Fleet ships through the waterway while being monitored by the Royal Navy.
The Royal Navy previously said Admiral Grigorovich escorted Russian-flagged ships to and from the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Baltic, including “one submarine and approximately six merchant and support vessels.”
Former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the incident was “a very aggressive position to take”, given the yacht was 500 meters away and was much smaller than the warship.
“They would have understood it wasn’t going to be a collision,” he said.
He said he believed it was “more a matter of Russian intimidation” and also criticized the The level of UK defense spendingsaying the fact that the warship was in the English Channel shows that Russia is “not deterred by us.”
Additional reporting by Matt Murphy and Tabby Wilson of BBC Verify.
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