Sailors on board a Russian frigate fired warning shots at a civilian yacht near the Isle of Wight in the Channel that had come near to it on Tuesday, a source familiar with the incident said.
Britain’s ministry of defence said it was investigating reports of an incident in the Channel. No injuries were reported.
The incident involved the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich and it was being monitored by a Royal Navy vessel at the time, according to the source familiar with the incident.
A UK-registered yacht alleged that a Russian Navy vessel had fired the warning shots at a distance of around 450 metres (500 yards), the source said. It took place about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside UK territorial waters.
On Sunday, British commandos boarded and intercepted a sanctioned Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Channel, leading for the first time an operation to disrupt the oil revenue that helps fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The source said Tuesday’s event was not viewed as being linked to that operation and was being treated as an isolated incident.
