The Russian military said on Tuesday that a Russian warship fired warning shots toward a British yacht in the English Channel, an incident that occurred two days after British Royal Marines boarded and seized an oil tanker that had departed Russia.
According to Newsweek, the incident on Tuesday occurred about 20 miles south of the Isle of Wight, with the two vessels about 500 yards apart. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the yacht was on a course that would bring it dangerously close to the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich.
The ministry said that the yacht ignored warnings, signal flares, and a siren before the Russian warship fired warning shots with small arms across the bow, prompting the yacht to alter course. According to British officials, a couple in their 60s was aboard the private vessel at the time.
British warships typically shadow Russian naval vessels as they transit the English Channel, and according to British media, the Admiral Grigorovich was being shadowed by the Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey at the time of the incident.
While the shooting appears to be a minor incident, it highlights the tensions in the region following the British seizure of the tanker Smyrtos, which had departed the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga and was bound for Port Said, Egypt, before being intercepted by British forces.
While NATO countries have seized several Russia-linked tankers over the past year, the incident marked the first in the English Channel. Tensions are also soaring in Eastern Europe near the Russian and Ukrainian borders as drones have repeatedly entered NATO airspace, and the more than four-year war continues to escalate.
Russia has ramped up its bombardments of Ukraine, which it says is a response to rising civilian casualties in Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, which are supported by US and NATO intelligence.
