UK starmer says warning of Russian warship in Channel ‘reckless’ | Story

Russia says the shots were fired to divert the yacht out of UK waters.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the warning shot by a Russian frigate to divert a UK-flagged civilian boat near British waters was reckless and “should not have happened”, but was not linked to the seizure of a Russian submarine at the weekend.

The incident involving a British family traveling on a boat happened on Tuesday, according to the defense ministries of the United Kingdom and Russia.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich saw the Bright Future moving on a course that would threaten to collide with the ship.

A Russian warship fired warning shots after trying to contact the boat, which was 20 miles (37km) south of the Isle of Wight, outside UK waters, the ministry said.

It added that the firing was not aimed at the ship and was an attempt to prevent a possible collision.

Alan Kelvey, 70, who was on the boat with his wife Jane, insisted he was not on the collision course. He described Russian statements as “common lies”.

The UK Ministry of Defense described the incident as “isolated” and unrelated to the current situation seizing an oil tank connected to Russia They are suspected of violating sanctions by crossing the English Channel on Sunday, the first such operation by the British military.

Starmer said the incident on the boat did not point to “anything too sinister”. However, “it does not remove the fact that Russia is an aggressor in Europe as a whole”.

“We’re seeing the war in Ukraine now in its fifth year, Russian aggression, and we’re seeing state-led violence in Europe,” he said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, the leaders announced they would do so increase power in Russia amid his attack on Ukraine, the prime minister said the incident was “deeply concerning” and “reckless”.

Russian warships passing through the English Channel are often covered by the Royal Navy, with the HMS Mersey in command of Admiral Grigorovich at the time.

Along with other Western countries, the UK has banned ships linked to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” from entering its ports and banned British companies from providing insurance, brokerage or financial services to Russian oil tankers, which remain a major source of income to Russia during its war in Ukraine.