LONDON (AP) — A British yacht owner who was warned away from a Russian warship by gunfire criticized the U.K. government Wednesday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to downplay the incident by saying there wasn't anything sinister about it.
Alan Kelvey, 70, and his wife, Jane, 68, said the shots were fired Tuesday morning when they crossed paths with the warship in the English Channel.
The U.K. Defense Ministry described the encounter as “an isolated incident," and Starmer said the Russian ship was seeking to avoid a collision. British media reported that the crew of the frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots into the air after failing to contact the yacht by other means in foggy conditions.
Alan Kelvey rejected the tone of the accounts of the incident, saying officials were trying to minimize an “inflammatory” encounter. “They’re trying to close the story down now, saying that it was foggy and they were shooting flares up,” he told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. “It’s rubbish.”
No one was injured during the encounter and the couple completed their journey to Cherbourg on the northern coast of France. But the incident underscored heightened tensions between the U.K. and Russia as Moscow steps up military activity in the air and seas around Britain.
The incident occurred two days after Britain seized a tanker from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, which Western powers say is used to skirt sanctions on Russian oil exports imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. Britain has also accused Russia of mounting a campaign of sabotage and misinformation designed to destabilize European nations that support Ukraine.
Speaking at the G7 summit in France, Starmer said the encounter was “deeply concerning,” even though authorities have concluded the shots weren’t “anything more sinister” than an effort to avoid a collision.
“That doesn’t take away from the fact that clearly Russia is aggressive across Europe,” Starmer said.
The incident occurred about 20 nautical miles (23 miles, 37 kilometers) south of the Isle of Wight, outside U.K. territorial waters, as the couple were heading to France on the 40-foot (12-meter) sailboat Bright Future.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Admiral Grigorovich sounded its air horn and then fired flares after the yacht was seen sailing on a “dangerous course in close proximity with the warship.”
“After the distance had closed to 150 meters (500 feet), the frigate’s commander decided to fire warning shots across the vessel’s bow using small arms,” the ministry said. The yacht then changed course and sailed away, it said.
Alan Kelvey told the Telegraph that he and his wife were sailing toward France when they came across the warship sitting in the middle of the channel with its Automatic Identification System shut down. He said he only realized it was a Russian ship when they got close enough to see the Cyrillic lettering on its hull.
Kelvey indicated he thought it was the motorized ship's responsibility to change course to get out of the way of his sailboat.
“I was just standing on my course and, as I’m a sailing boat on a course under sail, I’ve got right of way," he said.
FILE - A Russian warship is docked in Port Sudan, Sudan, on Feb. 28, 2021. (AP Photo, File)
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that foreign leaders — including those “on the other side of the Atlantic” — are trying to exploit France's tense social climate for their own political agenda.
Protests over soaring living costs have led to widespread rioting and looting in France.
U.S. President Donald Trump has used the violence to rally his political supporters, making unsubstantiated claims that Muslim migrants are responsible for the unrest, and urging Macron to “close your borders and take control before it is too late!”
Macron responded by saying there “has been foreign manipulation of information in the aftermath” of the looting in Paris and other French cities last weekend.
“And that has led to comments that are as unacceptable as they are stupid, from many people, including foreign leaders,” he said.
Asked by a reporter if he was referring to Trump, Macron replied: “Among others.”
Macron then added that there have been "AI-generated images depicting scenes that never actually happened in France. We’ve had people claiming that we were invaded by hordes of migrants and Islamists, which is completely false.”
Macron did not specify which AI-generated images he was referring to, nor how he knew the content was false. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said its office can provide the countries concerned with the necessary clarification, “to help them avoid spreading or amplifying false information and making baseless claims on social media.”
Macron and Trump once enjoyed a good relationship but Trump regularly mocks the French president in his public speeches.
“The fact is, all the people who are speaking ill of our country right now are people who don’t love our country," Macron said. “So those people really bother me.”
“When I see leaders who are in the middle of election campaigns, whether in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic — who sometimes naively repeat AI-generated content or spread narratives that certain circles are clearly trying to promote about what happened in France — they’re using our country for their own political campaigns," said Macron. "And we don’t need that.”
Macron was speaking in Qatar at the end of a tour of key energy suppliers in Gulf Arab states, where he secured an additional 100,000 metric tons of diesel per month from the United Arab Emirates, with a further 100,000 tons to be confirmed in Bahrain.
Macron's office said he traveled to the Middle East to find solutions to the energy crisis and rising energy prices, and to secure supplies of oil, gas, diesel and jet fuel.
The Elysee said nearly 295,000 additional tons of diesel per month could be secured, including volumes from Saudi Arabia, equivalent to more than 10% of France's monthly diesel consumption.
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Protesters confront police during a demonstration against rising living costs and in support of students’ grievances in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026.(AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
A protesters holds a French flag during a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Lyon, France, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
A man walks past a looted store the day after a demonstration against rising living costs and in solidarity with students’ grievances, in Paris, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
President Donald Trump is reflected in protective glass after speaking at a campaign rally at Pitt–Greenville Airport, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in Greenville, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Ramey)
In this photograph released by the state-run WAM news agency, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right, greets French President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (WAM via AP)
