UK updates on Russian warning shots from drifting frigate

The Ministry of Defence has set out further detail on the incident in the English Channel in which a Russian warship fired warning shots near a British yacht, saying the shots were intended to prevent a possible collision and were not aimed at the vessel, the Ministry of Defence has said.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said that “following attempts to contact a British vessel in the channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots”, adding that these “were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision”. The department reiterated its assessment that the episode was “an isolated incident and not linked to the UK’s interception of the Smyrtos this weekend”, and confirmed that the Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey had been monitoring the Russian vessel, with support provided to the crew of the yacht.

The UK Defence Journal understands that the Admiral Grigorovich was displaying to other vessels that it was drifting rather than manoeuvring under power, a state that may have left it feeling more vulnerable to an approaching craft, and that after sounding warnings the frigate fired several warning shots, which were not aimed at the yacht.

It is not known why the Russian frigate could not move under its own power.

The shots are understood to have been single rounds rather than automatic fire.

The detail reframes the incident from the more alarming early picture, in which a Russian warship appeared simply to have opened fire near a British civilian boat, towards a more recognisable, if still highly unusual, encounter at sea. A vessel lying stopped or drifting has limited ability to get out of the way of another craft, and warning shots, sounded after other signals, are a recognised, if rarely used, means of warning off a vessel judged to be approaching too close. That said, the firing of any shots by a Russian warship in the vicinity of a British-flagged yacht in the Channel remains a striking event, in one of the busiest and most sensitive stretches of water in the world.

The Channel is heavily used by commercial, naval and leisure traffic alike, and Russian warships transiting to and from home ports pass through it regularly, shadowed as a matter of routine by the Royal Navy, which is why HMS Mersey was already monitoring the Grigorovich at the time. The incident took place around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, in international waters, and the yacht reported no injuries or damage and continued on its way, with a seaboat from a second offshore patrol vessel, HMS Tyne, having earlier visited to check on those aboard.

The Admiral Grigorovich is the lead ship of a class of Russian frigates armed with anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles and a main gun.

The Ministry of Defence said its assessment that the incident was isolated and unconnected to last week’s boarding of the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet tanker SMYRTOS, seized by Royal Marine Commandos and the National Crime Agency in the first UK-led operation of its kind, remained unchanged, and the UK Defence Journal will continue to report on the incident as any further detail emerges.