The Royal Navy intercepted a Russian warship and an oil tanker off the British coast.
The Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that HMS Severn, a patrol ship, had been shadowing the RFN Stoikiy and an oil tanker for the past two weeks.
The navy monitored Russian movements through the Straits of Dover and west through the English Channel. The ministry did not announce the exact time of the interception.
HMS Severn later handed over surveillance duties to a NATO ally off the coast of Brittany but continued to monitor remotely, the MoD said.
The ministry reported a 30 percent increase in Russian vessels “threatening” British waters in the past two years.
Commander Grant Dalglish, HMS Severn’s commanding officer, said the operation strengthened the Navy’s close working relationship with NATO allies and highlighted the value of patrol vessels.
The announcement came just days after US Defense Secretary John Haley said a Russian spy ship had been spotted at the edge of British waters, where it was pointing a laser at RAF pilots tracking it.
A Royal Navy frigate and other civilian vessels suffered GPS jamming while the Yantar spy ship was on the trail.
The Ministry of Defense said HMS Somerset’s combat capabilities were not affected.
Since then, the Royal Air Force has deployed three P-8 Poseidon aircraft to Keflavik Air Base in Iceland to conduct surveillance operations as part of what the Ministry of Defense calls NATO’s collective defence.
These reconnaissance aircraft will patrol for Russian ships and submarines in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic.
