A Russian frigate fired a warning shot at a British-flagged yacht in the English
Channel after a close-range encounter, the UK Coastguard said. The vessel,
Admiral Grigorovich, part of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, has been operating near
UK waters for weeks and was previously observed escorting shadow-fleet tankers
and loitering near an offshore wind farm off Suffolk. Two Royal Navy River-class
patrol vessels had been tracking the frigate in the Channel prior to the
incident. The episode follows Prime Minister Starmer's order to deploy Royal
Marines to board the shadow-fleet tanker Smyrtos on Sunday; the tanker is
detained off England's south coast and some crew are under investigation for
alleged sanctions breaches.
