The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed that they fired warning shots toward the sailing yacht "Bright Future" in the English Channel, as the civilian vessel was moving on a "dangerous closing course with the ship," UNN reports.
Today, June 16, at 12:45 p.m., the crew of the frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" in the English Channel detected the civilian sailing yacht "Bright Future" under the flag of Great Britain, moving under engine power on a dangerous closing course with the ship. In accordance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, the frigate's crew made several attempts to contact the civilian vessel on the international radio channel. There were no changes to the yacht's course or responses to requests on the international radio channel
The Russian Ministry of Defense added that in order to attract the attention of the yacht's crew, "signal flares were launched and sound signals were given. Despite the measures taken, the vessel continued its dangerous approach."
After the distance closed to 150 meters, the frigate commander decided to fire warning shots along the vessel's course using small arms. Following this, the yacht under the British flag immediately changed course and continued moving away from the Russian warship
As the Russian Ministry of Defense claims, the crew of the frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" "acted in strict accordance with international shipping regulations and took all necessary measures to prevent an incident."
As a reminder
As reported by The Telegraph, the Russian frigate "Admiral Grigorovich" opened warning fire on a British civilian yacht in the English Channel after the vessels came dangerously close. The incident occurred outside UK territorial waters; there were no casualties.