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British patrol vessel monitoring Russian frigate during warning shots off Isle of Wight
Britain's defence ministry was investigating reports of an incident in the English Channel, after the 40-ft-yacht 'Bright Future' (MMSI: 235086766) had reported a Russian warship firing warning shots on June 16, 2026, at 11.40 a.m., about 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight just outside British waters. It was being treated as an isolated incident not linked to the UK interception of the tanker 'Smyrtos' in the early hours of June 14. The UK-registered yacht alleged that the Russian frigate, the 'Admiral Grigorovich', fired warning shots at a distance of approximately 500 yards (457 metres). The small, motor-less yacht had drifted towards the warship in foggy conditions after setting off from the UK. Russia's Defence Ministry said the yacht had been on a "dangerous approach" towards the warship, but the crew, the retired couple Jane und Alan Kelvey, said they were definitely not on a collision course. The warship did not attempt to hail the British yacht by radio, but gave out five blasts on their horn, and they immediately turned two degrees to port so they could see they had made a deliberate change of course, which meant they had seen them. About a minutelater they gave another five blasts on their horn, immediately followed by four to five small arms fire. No injuries or damage to the yacht have been reported. The yacht, was continuing its journey after a welfare visit by a vessel dispatched from British naval vessel HMS 'Tyne'. Another British navy ship, the patrol vessel HMS 'Mersey', was monitoring the Russian frigate at the time of the incident. Report with video: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20yzm84r7lo
Russian frigate in Dover Strait, loitering repair ship off Colchester and sanctioned tanker observed
On the afternoon of April 18, the Russian Frigate „Admiral Grigorovich' was spottet while navigating the northern part of the Dover Strait. The frigate was southbound in the Channel. The Royal Navy deplyoed the HMS 'Mersey' to shadow the ship during the transit. Meanwhile the NATO Maritime Command confirmed tracking the Kremlin’s Amur Class Repair Ship 'PM-82' loitering near offshore UK wind farms, around 50 kilometres off Colchester. The vessel, which was designed to maintain Russia’s Baltic fleet, was observed at the eastern entrance of the Channel. UK Border Force. A Poseidon patrol aircraft of the Royal Air Force and local wind farm service ships were active in the area during the sighting. The sanctioned Russian tanker 'Gefest' (IMO: 9319882), was observed nearby on its way from Primorsk to the Mediterranean Sea, adding to the operational complexity.
British Navy monitored Russian submarine transiting UK waters
The Russian submarine 'Novorossiysk' was caught sailing west through British waters. The HMS 'Mersey', a Wildcat helicopter from the 815 Naval Air Squadron, and a specialist submarine-hunting Merlin aircraft from 824 Naval Air Squadron were tracking the Kilo class 'Novorossiysk' as it sailed through UK waters along with the Goryn-class tug boat Yakov Grebelski". The British warship and helicopters utilised powerful sensors and systems to watch every move during their voyage. The monitoring responsibilities were passed on to Nato allies after the Russian submarine left UK waters. The operation was regarded as another clear demonstration of the Royal Navy's enduring commitment to safeguarding the United Kingdom's maritime interests. It was the sixth such tasking for the HMS 'Mersey' in the last three months and comes just a week after the patrol ship and fellow Portsmouth ships HMS 'Duncan' and HMS 'Trent' were all activated to watch the Russian frigate 'Admiral Grigorovich' and the corvette 'Boikiy' in UK waters. Report with photos: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/royal-navy-scrambles-vessel-to-shadow-putins-terrifying-attack-submarine/ar-AA1HQ7OG
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