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Russia said on Tuesday that one of its warships had fired warning shots at a British-flagged yacht in the English Channel after it made a “dangerous approach.”
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“In order to attract the attention of the yacht’s crew, signal flares were fired and audible signals were sounded. Despite these measures, the vessel continued its dangerous approach,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Following this, “the frigate’s commander decided to fire warning shots in the vessel’s direction using the ship’s small arms,” it added.
The statement from Moscow comes after the UK defence ministry said earlier on Tuesday it was “investigating reports of an incident in the Channel,” as a UK defence source told the AFP news agency that a yacht had reported a Russian warship firing warning shots.
The incident apparently took place about 20 nautical miles (37 kilometres) south of the Isle of Wight just outside British waters, according to the source.
Asked about the reported warning shots, a UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We are investigating reports of an incident in the Channel.”
The defence source said it was being treated as an isolated incident not linked to the UK interception in the early hours of Sunday.
In the incident reported on Tuesday, the UK-registered yacht alleged that a Russian Navy vessel had fired the warning shots at a distance of approximately 500 yards (457 metres).
No injuries or damage was reported by the yacht, which is continuing its journey after a welfare visit by a vessel dispatched from British naval vessel HMS Tyne.
It is understood another British naval vessel, HMS Mersey, was monitoring the Russian ship at the time of the incident.
Shadow fleet interception
It came days after UK commandos intercepted and boarded a suspected Russian shadow fleet vessel in the same part of the Channel, in the first such UK-led operation.
Sunday’s interdiction saw British commandos board the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos, said to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet, in a dramatic operation hailed by Kyiv and London as a blow to Moscow’s war machine.
The operation took place off the southern English coast, with the commandos fast-roping from a helicopter in the dark, according to defence ministry footage.
British prosecutors on Monday charged Ajay Pant, the Indian captain of the Smyrtos, with contravening UK sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The 38-year-old appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court by videolink on Tuesday from Bournemouth police station for a preliminary hearing.
He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and to gave his address as being in India. He also gave no indication of his plea and his solicitor requested the case be sent to the crown court.
Pant was remanded in custody, ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court on 16 July.
Additional sources • AFP
