The British Royal Navy has reported that it monitored nine Russian ships around the UK waters in the past two weeks.
The ships included a surfaced submarine, destroyer, corvette and patrol ship, as well as their supporting tugs and supply ships travelling in both the English Channel and waters close to Scotland’s west coast.
According to the British Royal Navy, the Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland monitored the Udaloy-class destroyer movements in the north west of the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland.
A patrol ship, dubbed ‘HMS Severn’, was on duty in the English Chanel where it shadowed a surfaced Kilo-class submarine, the Stary Oskol, the corvette Boikiy, patrol ship Vasiliy Bykov and support ships.
Royal Navy First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin said: “This is why the Royal Navy is at sea every day, protecting the UK and our interests. Even with the pressures of Covid, we remain at short notice to respond to threats both in home waters and around the world.
“Despite the increase in Russian activity, both on the surface and underwater, we are always ready to respond.”
According to the UK Royal Navy, the Russian ships took protection from bad weather in northern France’s bay, ‘Baie de Seine’, where UK ships were joined by French Navy ships as well as aircraft to monitor their movement.
HMS Severn commanding officer Commander Philip Harper said: “In very challenging conditions with rough weather, Severn and several other British and allied ships, have spent 20 days ensuring that Russian transiting warships remain under our watchful eyes.”
Furthermore, three British Royal Navy ships namely, HMS Tyne, HMS Richmond and HMS Kent joined to escort a group of Russian ships as they operated in the Celtic Sea and approaches to the UK’s south-west coast.
In September, more than 1,000 sailors and Royal Marines sailed for a three-month deployment to the Mediterranean, Black Sea and North Africa to test the Future Commando Force (FCF) and Littoral Strike Group (LRG) concepts.
