Russian ship escorted through North Sea

A Royal Navy crew spent Christmas Day escorting a Russian warship through the North Sea near UK waters.

The 190-strong company aboard the HMS St Albans set sail on 23 December to monitor the Russian Admiral Gorshkov frigate and, on Monday, tracked its progress through what the Royal Navy called areas of national interest.

The Navy said there had been a recent “upsurge” in Russian units travelling through UK waters, including on Christmas Eve when HMS Tyne was called to escort a Russian intelligence-gathering ship through the North Sea and the English Channel.

A Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton was also scrambled to track two other Russian vessels. HMS St Albans returned to Portsmouth yesterday.