NEW
A Russian warship has fired warning shots at a British yacht in the English Channel.
The coastguard received reports on Tuesday morning from a British-flagged civilian vessel sailing near the Admiral Grigorovich, a Russian frigate.
Defence sources stressing this incident is NOT related to the seizing of Smyrtos in the Channel on Sunday morning.
The British ship reported that the Grigorovich had fired warning shots after the two vessels sailed close to each other in the Channel at around 11.40am on Tuesday.
The incident comes after Sir Keir Starmer ordered a team of Royal Marines to board a Russian shadow tanker, the Smyrtos, on Sunday morning.
The Grigorovich, one of Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea fleet warships, has been present near British waters for some weeks.
It has been observed escorting shadow oil tankers and loitering near a wind farm off the Suffolk coast.