UK ’investigating’ after yacht says Russian ship fired ’warning shots’
Britain’s defence ministry said Tuesday it was ‘investigating reports of an incident in the Channel’, as a UK defence source told AFP a yacht had reported a Russian warship firing warning shots.
The incident apparently took place about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, just outside British waters, according to the source.
It came days after UK commandos intercepted and boarded a suspected Russian shadow fleet vessel in the same part of the Channel, in the first such UK-led operation.
It also coincided with G7 leaders gathering in eastern France and agreeing Tuesday to intensify pressure on Russia to end more than four years of war against Ukraine.
Asked about the reported warning shots, a UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘We are investigating reports of an incident in the Channel.’
The defence source said it was being treated as an isolated incident, not linked to the UK interception in the early hours of Sunday.
In the incident reported Tuesday, the UK-registered yacht alleged that a Russian Navy vessel had fired the warning shots at a distance of approximately 500 yards.
No injuries or damage were reported by the yacht, which is continuing its journey after a welfare visit by a seaboat dispatched from British naval vessel HMS Tyne.
It is understood that another British naval vessel, HMS Mersey, was monitoring the Russian ship at the time of the incident.
Sunday’s interdiction saw British commandos board the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos - said to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet in a dramatic operation hailed by Kyiv and London as a blow to Moscow’s war machine.
The operation took place off the southern English coast, with the commandos fast-roping from a helicopter in the dark, according to defence ministry footage released.
British prosecutors on Monday charged Ajay Pant, the Indian captain of the Smyrtos, with contravening UK sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The 38-year-old appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday by videolink from Bournemouth police station for a preliminary hearing.
He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth, and to gave his address as being in India. He also gave no indication of his plea and his solicitor requested the case be sent to the crown court.
Pant was remanded in custody, ahead of a plea and trial preparation hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court on July 16.
source: AFP
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