Retired UK couple break silence after Russian warship warning shots – ‘what the hell’ | UK | News

The British couple who were on a yacht at the centre of an incident involving a Russian warship in the Channel today have claimed Moscow’s version of the events doesn’t match their experience. Jane Kelvey, 68, and her husband Alan, 70, were travelling on their 40ft yacht, Bright Future, earlier on Tuesday, moving from the coast of England towards France.

Their journey across the English Channel was abruptly interrupted by Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich, which fired warning shots near their vessels. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed the shots were fired because the small UK-registered vessel was “following a dangerous course under engines to approach the ship”, adding the frigate only resorted to firing shots after making several attempts to warn the yacht. The British vessel, Russia also claimed, failed to change its course before warning shots were fired, with the incident unfolding about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, outside the UK’s territorial waters.

But speaking to the BBC, the pair claimed the Russian version of the events is not accurate and branded the firing of warning shots “unnecessary”.

Recounting the incident on Newsnight, Mrs Kelvey said they had left the British coast at approximately 4am and, halfway across the Channel, they “saw in the distance” another vessel, at around 11am.

She said they couldn’t immediately tell which type of ship that was, as she claimed it wasn’t showing on their AIS tracker. But as they got closer and closer, they could tell it was a warship, with Cyrillic letters on the side.

The 68-year-old also recounted the incident, saying the Russian ship “gave out five blasts on the horn, which means ‘have you seen us’, we immediately turned two degrees to port so that they could see we had made a deliberate change of course, which meant we had seen them, and then a minute or so later they gave another five blasts on their horn, immediately followed by four to five small arms fire, which wasn’t aimed at us, it was a warning fire that went up in the air, we believe”.

Asked if they were afraid, she said: “I crouched down on the floor and tried to get my lovely canvas to protect me. We didn’t really do a lot, we didn’t figure that we were likely to actually get shot at, but as soon as the warning shots came on, we put the engine on and went 90 degrees to port and got way out of the way.”

Mrs Kelvey also said the vessel didn’t bear a flag and claimed the Russian ship didn’t radio them – while the Russian Ministry of Defence said earlier in a statement the “frigate’s crew made several attempts to contact the civilian vessel on the international radio channel”.

She said: “The first thing we knew were the five blasts, we turned to port, followed by the next five blasts and then the gunfire, and so we just turned.”

Her husband claimed: “There were none of these flares like they said in their statement.”

Mrs Kelvey jumped in, claiming: “They didn’t send up any flares, didn’t try to radio us, they didn’t look to us like they were adrift and we were definitely not on a collision course. We were going to miss them.”

Later in the interview, she said there were “no problems as far as we were concerned”.

The gunfire was described by Mr Kelvey as “unnecessary”.

The experience, the 68-year-old said, was “surreal”, while Mr Kelvey said, after being asked how the pair were appearing so calm after the incident: “It was just another day”.

Separately, in an interview with the i Paper, Mrs Kelvey described the incident as “a bit scary”, adding: “I crouched down. I didn’t think our safety was in danger. But it was certainly unusual. As we sailed away, we said to each other, what the hell just happened?”

Mrs Kelvey, who retired in 2023 alongside her husband, said they contacted the UK Coastguard before a boat from HMS Tyne, another patrol vessel, was understood to have been sent to the yacht to gather details and check they were safe.

Russian warships passing through the English Channel are routinely shadowed by the Royal Navy, with offshore patrol vessel HMS Mersey understood to be monitoring the Admiral Grigorovich at the time of the incident on Tuesday.

The statement issued earlier today by the Russian Ministry of Defence read: “Today, June 16 at 12:45, the crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich in the English Channel discovered the civilian sailing yacht Bright Future, flying the British flag, which was following a dangerous course under engines to approach 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 was no change in the yacht’s course or response to the international radio channel requests. To attract the attention of the yacht’s crew, flares were fired and sound signals were sounded. Despite these measures, the vessel continued its dangerous approach.

“After closing the distance to 150 metres, the frigate’s commander decided to fire pre-emptively at the vessel’s course with small arms. The British-flagged yacht then immediately changed course and continued moving away from the Russian warship.

“The crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich acted in strict accordance with international shipping regulations and took all necessary measures to prevent the incident.”

The UK Ministry of Defence also issued a statement this evening, saying: “Following attempts to contact a British vessel in the Channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots. These were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision.

“We assess that this is an isolated incident and not linked to the UK’s interception of the Smyrtos this weekend. HMS Mersey has been monitoring the Russian vessel and support has been provided to the crew of the yacht.”