Russian warship fires warning shots near UK-registered yacht in Channel

Sir Keir told the BBC on Wednesday the incident should not have happened and the couple must have felt “terrified”.

“What happened in the Channel was deeply concerning. It was reckless. The MoD have done an assessment. Their assessment is that the Russian vessel was drifting, and they were warning shots, and therefore it is important in that context,” he added.

An MoD spokesperson said: “Following attempts to contact a British vessel in the channel, the Grigorovich fired warning shots.

“These were not aimed at the vessel and were an attempt to prevent a possible collision.”

Jane Kelvey said their yacht, the Bright Future, was “definitely not on a collision course”.

“As far as we were concerned, it wasn’t an incident until the gunfire started,” she said.

She said there had been no flares launched and they had not been contacted by the radio.

“I’m a bit disappointed by the accusations made against us because they are simply not true,” she said.

She called the gunfire “completely unnecessary”, and reported the incident as a hazard to navigation “because that’s what you’re supposed to do”.

Later the couple told the Daily Telegraph, external and the Times, external that the MoD was “trying to shut the story down”.

The MoD has been asked about the couple’s criticism but declined to comment.

The incident happened approximately 20 nautical miles – about 23 standard miles – south of the Isle of Wight, outside of UK territorial waters.

British authorities said the yacht had reported the Russian vessel had fired warning shots from around 500 yards (457m) away – a relatively near distance by the standards of sea travel.