Royal Navy spent three days tracking Russian vessels in UK waters
Three vessels and a helicopter deployed to monitor four ships travelling through the North Sea to the Channel
TL;DR
- Royal Navy spent 72 hours tracking four Russian vessels passing through UK waters.
- The operation involved HMS Duncan, HMS St Albans, HMS Severn, and a Merlin helicopter.
- The tracked vessels included the Russian destroyer Admiral Levchenko escorting sanctioned cargo ships General Skobelev and Sparta.
- Russia deployed its Neustrashimy frigate to guard the shipment.
- Gen Gwyn Jenkins stated that shadow fleet vessels pose an unacceptable risk to UK security.
- This operation forces Moscow to divert warships from their core purpose.
- Russian naval activity in UK waters has increased, with a 25% rise in monitoring compared to the previous year.
- In June, the Royal Marines seized the Russian tanker Smyrtos.
- The Kremlin has threatened the UK following support for Ukraine, with a former Russian minister not ruling out 'semi-military' action against Britain.