World
UK PM says Russian warship's warning shots 'reckless'
Moscow has said the frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired the shots Tuesday after the UK-registered yacht made a "dangerous approach".
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. (File photo)
By: AFP ., Journalist @New Vision
_______________
LONDON — UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday that a Russian warship's warning shots at a yacht in the Channel were "reckless", but sought to downplay fresh maritime tensions between London and Moscow.
The defence ministry's "assessment is that it was actually a drifting warship, rather than anything more sinister," Starmer told GB News television.
Moscow has said the frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired the shots Tuesday after the UK-registered yacht made a "dangerous approach".
The retired British couple aboard the yacht have insisted they were a safe distance away and described the experience of having shots fired near them as "surreal".
"I think it's reckless," Starmer said following the incident, which came after UK commandos intercepted and boarded a suspected Russian shadow fleet vessel on Sunday in the same part of the Channel.
G7 leaders, including Starmer, have been meeting in eastern France and agreed Tuesday to intensify pressure on Russia to end more than four years of war against Ukraine.
Despite the ministry's assessment "that doesn't take away from the fact that clearly Russia is aggressive across Europe," Starmer said.
"We're seeing the Ukraine war now in its fifth year, clear Russian aggression, and we are seeing state-backed attacks across Europe," he added.
Horn blasts
"I think it's reckless," Starmer said following the incident, which came after UK commandos intercepted and boarded a suspected Russian shadow fleet vessel on Sunday in the same part of the Channel.
G7 leaders, including Starmer, have been meeting in eastern France and agreed Tuesday to intensify pressure on Russia to end more than four years of war against Ukraine.
Despite the ministry's assessment "that doesn't take away from the fact that clearly Russia is aggressive across Europe," Starmer said.
"We're seeing the Ukraine war now in its fifth year, clear Russian aggression, and we are seeing state-backed attacks across Europe," he added.
Horn blasts
A defence source told AFP the frigate was believed to have been "drifting rather than being manoeuvred under power, which may have made her feel more vulnerable".
According to the Russian defence ministry "signal flares were fired, and audible signals were sounded" to get the attention of the yacht, which was 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside British waters
"Despite these measures, the vessel continued its dangerous approach," Moscow 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 UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) insisted it was an "isolated" incident "to prevent a possible collision", not linked to the UK's weekend interception of the other vessel.
Jane Kelvey, who was on the yacht with her husband Alan, said the warship blasted its horn five times before the couple "immediately turned two degrees to port so they could see we had made a deliberate change of course, which meant we had seen them".
"Then a minute or so later they gave another five blasts on their horn, immediately followed by four to five small arms fire," she told the BBC.
She said their yacht, the Bright Future, was "definitely not on a collision course".
UK authorities said the yacht reported that the Russian vessel was at a distance of about 500 yards (450 metres).
Russia 'baring teeth'
Steve Prest, an associate fellow at the RUSI think tank and retired British navy commodore, said the warning shots could have been the warship "getting a bit nervous".
"However, in the context of what's been going on with the (Russian) Dark Fleet, the Royal Marines seizing that ship, I think this is the Russians baring their teeth," he said in written comments shared with AFP.
The UK's Royal Navy said it had deployed multiple patrol ships in April to monitor the Grigorovich, which reportedly escorted tankers part of Russia's "shadow fleet" of sanctions-busting ships through the Channel.
The latest tensions come amid a row over UK defence spending that led to the resignation of defence minister John Healey last week.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged NATO allies to spend more and become less reliant on Washington for security.
According to the Russian defence ministry "signal flares were fired, and audible signals were sounded" to get the attention of the yacht, which was 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside British waters
"Despite these measures, the vessel continued its dangerous approach," Moscow 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 UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) insisted it was an "isolated" incident "to prevent a possible collision", not linked to the UK's weekend interception of the other vessel.
Jane Kelvey, who was on the yacht with her husband Alan, said the warship blasted its horn five times before the couple "immediately turned two degrees to port so they could see we had made a deliberate change of course, which meant we had seen them".
"Then a minute or so later they gave another five blasts on their horn, immediately followed by four to five small arms fire," she told the BBC.
She said their yacht, the Bright Future, was "definitely not on a collision course".
UK authorities said the yacht reported that the Russian vessel was at a distance of about 500 yards (450 metres).
Russia 'baring teeth'
Steve Prest, an associate fellow at the RUSI think tank and retired British navy commodore, said the warning shots could have been the warship "getting a bit nervous".
"However, in the context of what's been going on with the (Russian) Dark Fleet, the Royal Marines seizing that ship, I think this is the Russians baring their teeth," he said in written comments shared with AFP.
The UK's Royal Navy said it had deployed multiple patrol ships in April to monitor the Grigorovich, which reportedly escorted tankers part of Russia's "shadow fleet" of sanctions-busting ships through the Channel.
The latest tensions come amid a row over UK defence spending that led to the resignation of defence minister John Healey last week.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged NATO allies to spend more and become less reliant on Washington for security.