Putin on patrol
Navy monitors 7 Russian ships lurking in UK waters
NINE Royal Navy ships were forced to shadow seven Russian vessels passing through UK waters during a period of ‘unusually high levels of activity’.
The ‘large-scale operation’ took place two weeks ago as Britain was gearing up to fight the global coronavirus pandemic.
The Russian ships sailed from the Baltic region and were said to have ‘hung around longer than normal’ as they reached UK waters.
In the same week the RAF was three times forced to intercept Russian bombers approaching British airspace, Navy sources said. They suggested the increase in activity could be due to large Nato military exercises in Europe.
Tory MP and defence select committee chairman Tobias Ellwood said: ‘The world may be distracted by this pandemic, and quite rightly, but the dangers faced before Covid-19 have not gone away and we must be on our guard.’
The Royal Navy said: ‘The Navy has completed a concentrated operation to shadow the Russian warships after unusually high levels of activity in the English Channel and North Sea.’
It came after EU experts accused Russian state media of waging a disinformation campaign over the coronavirus crisis. The British response included HMS Kent, HMS Sutherland, HMS Argyll and HMS Richmond, joined by offshore vessels HMS Tyne and HMS Mersey along with two tankers and HMS Echo.
Lieutenant Nick Ward, of HMS Tyne, said: ‘This is very much part of routine business for HMS Tyne and represents one of the many roles our patrol vessels perform in support of the Royal Navy’s commitments.’
The Russian ships’ movements were monitored using state-of-the-art radar, surveillance cameras and sensors.
The Russian ships observed included three corvettes, two landing ships and two frigates.
Sources said the ships were ‘not state-of-the-art’.
‘High levels of activity’