Sir Keir Starmer said it was “reckless” for a Russian warship to fire warning shots near a yacht in the English Channel, but stressed that there was no sign it was anything “more sinister” than a drifting vessel.
A British couple were on their 40ft yacht, Bright Future, travelling from the south coast of England towards France when shots were fired several times from the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Russian vessel fired warning shots after making attempts to contact the yacht, which was about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside the UK’s territorial waters.
The MoD said the shots were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision.
Sir Keir Starmer told GB News: “What happened in the Channel, obviously deeply concerning, and (I) obviously feel for the couple on the yacht.
“It looks (from) the MoD assessment as if it was a drifting warship that fired a warning shot.
“That’s the assessment, clearly that shouldn’t have happened.
“I think it’s reckless, but it does look as if the MoD assessment is it was drifting, and that’s what it is.
“Now, that doesn’t take away from the fact that clearly Russia is aggressive across Europe.
“We’re seeing the Ukraine war now in its fifth year, clear Russian aggression, and we are seeing state-backed attacks across Europe.
“We were discussing it here at the G7 yesterday, so we’ve got to be on our guard, but the incident in the Channel … (the) MoD assessment is that it was actually a drifting warship, rather than anything more sinister.”
Russian warships passing through the English Channel are routinely shadowed by the Royal Navy, with offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey monitoring the Admiral Grigorovich at the time of the incident on Tuesday.
The incident came just two days after the seizure of Russian tanker Smyrtos in the first such action by British forces – although the UK had previously helped allies targeting sanctioned tankers.
The Russian defence ministry said the yacht had been on a “dangerous approach” and the warning shots were fired after attempting to draw the attention of the yacht’s crew through signal flares and sound signals.
It said the Russian sailors had acted “in strict accordance” with international shipping regulations.
Jane Kelvey, 68, who was on the yacht with her husband Alan, 70, insisted they were not on a collision course, and Mr Kelvey described the Russian statement as “just normal lies”.
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