Royal Navy Shadows Russian Vessels in Strategic Waterway
The Royal Navy has been actively monitoring the movements of two Russian military ships, a warship and a tanker, as they transited through the strategically important English Channel. The incident, which occurred over the past two weeks, saw the HMS Severn intercept the RFN Stoikiy, a corvette, and the Yelnya, a tanker, as the group sailed west through the Dover Strait.
A Coordinated NATO Response
According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence, the passage was conducted without any reported incident. The HMS Severn later handed over the monitoring duties to a NATO ally off the coast of Brittany in France but continued to observe the Russian vessels from a distance. This coordinated action highlights the ongoing vigilance of allied forces in the region.
This event follows a separate and more confrontational incident reported last week by Defence Secretary John Healey. He revealed that Russia’s Yantar, a vessel known for mapping undersea cables, had appeared ‘on the edge of UK waters’ for the second time this year. After a Royal Navy frigate and RAF P8 planes were dispatched to track the ship, Healey stated that Russian crew members took the ‘deeply dangerous’ move of pointing lasers at the pilots.
UK Government's Stern Warning to Moscow
At a press conference, Healey delivered a direct message to Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin: ‘We see you, we know what you’re doing, and if the Yantar travels south this week we are ready.’ He emphasised that this was the second deployment of the Yantar to UK waters this year, signalling a pattern of behaviour.
The Defence Secretary contextualised these maritime encounters within a broader ‘new era of threat’ for the UK. He pointed to the brief Iran-Israel war, recent revelations about Chinese spies in Parliament, and drones over European skies as evidence of a more dangerous global landscape. ‘It demands a new era for defence, an era of hard power, strong allies and of sure diplomacy. And as the threat grows, Britain must step up, and we are,’ Healey asserted.
This stance comes after warnings earlier this year from leading experts who told Metro that the UK was ‘sleepwalking into a bloody ambush’. Dr Simon Bennett from the University of Leicester suggested that the UK may not remain sovereign and free unless it wakes up to the escalating threats. He criticised the government's refusal to set a firm deadline on increasing defence spending, stating it only ‘emboldens Putin’.
Keir Giles, a Russian expert from Chatham House, concurred on the level of threat but noted a positive step in this year’s defence review, which focused on raising ‘civil awareness and resilience’. He said it appears the government has recognised the fundamental mission of educating the British public about the threats facing the nation and its institutions.
