UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has commented on the incident in the English Channel, where a Russian frigate opened fire on a yacht flying his country’s flag. He mentioned this in comments to BBC News on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
“What happened in the Channel is deeply worrying. It was reckless,” said Starmer.
He referred to an assessment by the British Ministry of Defence, according to which the Russian vessel was drifting in the area and fired warning shots.
“This should not have happened. It was reckless, and the couple on the yacht must have been terrified,” the Prime Minister added.
The BBC reports that the yacht was being operated by a retired couple, and that the British vessel was 23 miles off the coast of the Isle of Wight
It emerged yesterday that the Russian frigate ‘Admiral Grigorovich’ had fired a warning shot at a civilian yacht flying the British flag, which had approached it to within approximately 500 metres in the English Channel.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently stated that the frigate’s crew had spotted the yacht, which was allegedly on a course that risked a collision with the Russian vessel. After unsuccessful attempts to establish contact with the British vessel, the frigate fired warning shots, forcing the yacht to change course.