By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-06-16 20:30:54 | Updated at 2026-06-17 03:56:33
7 hours ago
The retired couple who own the sailing yacht that came under Russian fire in the English Channel have told GB News that they "didn’t do anything wrong", after the Russians accused them of being on a "dangerous course" with their warship.
Alan and Jane Kelvey set sail from Lymington on their 12-metre-long British flagged yacht Bright Future in the early hours of Tuesday morning, headed to Cherbourg in France.
They claim visibility was "reasonable" and that there was no fog as they made their crossing, but around 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight they encountered the Russian warship Grigorovich.
The couple say the Russians made no contact with them over radio, and that they did not fire any flares, despite the Russians claiming to in a statement where they said they acted in ‘strict accordance’ with international regulation.
The Kelveys told GB News that the Russians fired four or five shots into the air at 11:01 UK time.
The couple say the warship wasn’t displaying AIS and so they had no way of knowing that the vessel was a Russian military vessel. They say they had planned to pass the ship on its starboard side, leaving a berth of 500m, as they made their way to France.
However, the Russian warship blasted 5 long horns and so the couple say they changed their course by two degrees to avoid them.
Despite their evasive manoeuvre, the Russians still fired four to five shots at them as a warning, the couple told GB News.
“We were not on a collision course in any way shape or form... we didn't do anything wrong”, Alan and Jane explained.
“We followed all the collision regulations… the closest we got to them was 500m… and as soon as we heard the gun shots, we put our engine on,” they continued.
The couple heard the gun shots fire at 11:01 UK time, at which point they dialled 999 to request help from the coastguard.
The couple praised the speed at which they responded, telling GB News the coastguard was ‘brilliant’.
The couple say the incident lasted for no longer than 10 minutes and left them deeply "shocked".
Alan and Jane told GB News they believe the incident took place "because of what happened earlier this week" in the Channel, when a Russian shadow oil tanker was seized by the Royal Marines and the National Crime Agency.
