A tense confrontation between a Russian warship and a British yacht in the English Channel has triggered a political row after the couple aboard the vessel accused the Ministry of Defence of attempting to “close down” the incident.
Jane and Alan Kelvey, who were sailing aboard their yacht Bright Future, said they disputed the official explanation of events after sailors on the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots nearby on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Defence said its assessment was that the shots were intended as a warning after the yacht came too close to the Russian vessel and that the warship’s crew had attempted to contact the couple by radio before firing.
But Mr Kelvey rejected that version of events, claiming the radio call never reached them.
“The MoD are saying they got us on the radio. Our radio, we were right next to it. It didn’t come on our radio,” he said.
The 70-year-old sailor also dismissed claims that poor visibility or warning flares played a role, insisting the two vessels could clearly see each other.
“They’re trying to close the story down now,” he said. “It’s rubbish.”
The incident has added to already heightened tensions between Britain and Russia, coming just days after the UK seized a Russian-linked “shadow fleet” tanker suspected of helping Moscow evade sanctions.
The Russian defence ministry claimed the yacht had been following a “dangerous course” and said the frigate had used signals and flares before firing warning shots in accordance with maritime rules.
The confrontation occurred outside UK territorial waters, south of the Isle of Wight, while the Russian warship was being monitored by the Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Mersey.
The frigate involved, Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate, has previously been involved in escorting sanctioned vessels through the Channel, making the encounter particularly sensitive as relations between Moscow and London continue to deteriorate.
Speaking at the G7 summit in France, Sir Keir Starmer described the episode as “reckless” but said the current assessment did not suggest a deliberate act of aggression.
“I think it’s reckless, but it does look as if the MoD assessment is it was drifting,” the Prime Minister said.
He added that Russia remained “aggressive across Europe”, but sought to distinguish the incident from a direct military confrontation.
The dispute now centres on what happened in the moments before the shots were fired — whether the yacht was warned, whether communications were made, and whether the encounter was a routine maritime incident or another sign of increasingly dangerous encounters between Russia and the West.
For the couple at the centre of the episode, however, the message is simple: they believe the public deserves the full story of what happened in the Channel.
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