British couple describe having warning shots fired near them by Russian warship

'It was surreal': British couple describe having warning shots fired near them by Russian warship 40 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Rachel Flynn , Paul Adams , diplomatic correspondent and Victoria Derbyshire , BBC Newsnight Watch: Couple on board yacht that drifted towards Russian warship speak to BBC Newsnight A British retired couple who were on a yacht which had warning shots fired near it by a Russian warship in the English Channel have described the "surreal" experience to the BBC. Jane and Alan Kelvey were sailing 23 miles off the coast of the Isle of Wight on Tuesday morning when they came into close contact with the Russian frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the firing of shots into the path of the UK-registered yacht as "reckless", while the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was an "isolated incident". Russia's Defence Ministry said the yacht had been on a "dangerous approach" towards the warship, but the couple said they were "definitely not on a collision course". Recounting the incident, Jane Kelvey told BBC Newsnight: "[The warship] gave out five blasts on their horn, which means 'have you seen us?' "We immediately turned two degrees to port so they could see we had made a deliberate change of course, which meant we had seen them. "Then a minute or so later they gave another five blasts on their horn, immediately followed by four to five small arms fire. "That wasn't aimed at us - it was warning fire that went up in the air, we believe." Russian warships regularly pass through international waters in the Channel, which are separate from UK and French territorial waters. The ships are routinely monitored by Royal Navy vessels. In a statement earlier on Tuesday, the Russian Defence Ministry said the Admiral Grigorovich's crew had fired into the yacht's path with rifles after making several attempts to contact the yacht over the radio and launching warning flares. It added that its sailors had acted in "strict accordance with international shipping regulations". Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Sir Keir said the incident "shouldn't have happened" and expressed sympathy for the couple, who he said 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 told the BBC: "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." Starmer: Leadership challenges are 'wrong' Jane 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 called the gunfire "completely unnecessary", and said she had reported