Royal Navy and RAF shadow Russian ships in UK waters

UK warships have shadowed a Russian task group as it passed through British waters, the Royal Navy has said.

Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset and minehunter HMS Cattistock, along with RFA Tidesurge and Navy helicopters, monitored and reported every move of the four Russian vessels as they passed through the English Channel and the North Sea .

The Russian ships, which included destroyer RFN Severomorsk, landing ship RFN Alexander Shabalin and two transport ships, MV Sparta IV and MV Siyanie Severa, were sailing east towards the Baltic Sea.

It marks the third time in six weeks that the Royal Navy has shadowed Russian task groups returning from Syria.

The Royal Navy said its operation began on Sunday after tanker Tidesurge had monitored the destroyer in the North Sea and through the Strait of Dover.

HMS Somerset and her Merlin helicopter from 814 Naval Air Squadron then began shadowing the Russian task group's escort, Severomorsk, south of Portsmouth and the RAF deployed a P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth, collecting vital information as the Russians made their journey.

The Udaloy-class Severomorsk then met the cargo and landing ships in the western reaches of the Channel, off Cornwall, where minehunter HMS Cattistock was already monitoring the Russian group.

As the Russian ships sailed back east through the Channel and the North Sea towards the Baltic Sea, the Royal Navy ships deployed powerful sensors and launched the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters to report on every move.

Commanding Officer of HMS Somerset Joel Roberts, said of the operation that the ship's company had shown "great professionalism" and praised the strength of the co-ordinated Nato response, saying that "the ability to deliver integration of air and maritime operations remain some of our greatest assets."

The first recent operation saw the Royal Navy shadow a Russian task group in mid-February when HMS Iron Duke, HMS Tyne and RFA Tideforce monitored five ships, including three merchant vessels, as they sailed from Syria heading to a Russian Baltic port.

Two weeks later, HMS Somerset was used to complete a three-day mission watching RFN Boikiy as the corvette escorted a merchant vessel on its voyage.

Neither occasion was the first time Russian ships had been spotted or monitored in UK waters.

In January, Defence Secretary John Healey told MPs the Royal Navy had monitored a Russian spy ship - accusing the vessel, Yantar, of being used to gather intelligence and map the UK's underwater infrastructure.

And in June 2024 a Russian submarine was spotted off Scotland's west coast before it arrived in Havana, Cuba, a week later.

Speaking of the latest operation, Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said he was "grateful" to all the personnel who shadowed the Russian convoy.

"Russia should be in no doubt that the UK will defend our waters," he said.