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A Russian warship firing warning shots near a British yacht in the English Channel sounds, at first glance, like exactly the sort of incident designed to set Westminster and social media alight.

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A Russian frigate. A British-flagged civilian vessel. The Channel. Warning shots. All coming just days after Royal Marines boarded a Russian shadow tanker in the same stretch of water.

But the first thing to say is that warning shots at sea are not automatically an act of war. They can be fired to prevent a collision, to enforce distance, or to make a vessel alter course when radio warnings have not worked. Ships do not behave like cars.

They cannot simply stop on a whim. Closing distances, sea room, traffic separation lanes and collision regulations all matter.

I was with a highly experienced Royal Navy officer when the news dropped. He was not shocked. His first instinct was not to reach for Cold War language.

It was to ask the practical questions, like how close were they, who was required to give way, what were the sea conditions, what were the vessels doing, and was this about collision avoidance rather than escalation? And all of that will be answered in due course.

But, that doesn't mean this incident is harmless.

The Ministry of Defence is now investigating reports that the Russian warship Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots near a........

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