Royal Navy maintains the pressure on Russian warships sailing through UK waters

A Royal Navy warship and a helicopter have completed a 48-hour operation monitoring Russian activity in UK waters as part of coordinated Nato efforts.

HMS Mersey and a Naval Air Squadron Wildcat helicopter were deployed to report on the movements of Moscow's Steregushchiy-class frigate RFN Soobrazitelny and sanctioned oil tanker MV Anatoly Kolodkin.

The River-class patrol vessel and the Wildcat kept a close watch of the pair, using powerful radars and sensors to gather valuable information, while the two Russian ships sailed westward through the English Channel.

• President Zelensky gifts King and Prime Minister an iPad to monitor the war in Ukraine
• Epic Fury: The online battle as AI disinformation spreads across the internet
• Autonomous mine-hunting systems are now in the Middle East, confirms Healey

"This operation provides a clear example of Mersey's readiness and operational capability in monitoring Russian vessel movements through our waters," Lieutenant Commander Dan Wardle, HMS Mersey's Commanding Officer, said.

"Our coordination with allied forces further amplifies our situational awareness and response capacity, ensuring we are able to safeguard the integrity of our maritime environment."

The two Russian ships separated at the western end of the Channel, with the Royal Navy following Soobrazitelny back eastwards through the Channel as the Anatoly Kolodkin continued to sail into the Atlantic.

This latest operation comes only two weeks after the Royal Navy trailed two sanctioned Russian cargo ships and their escorting warships in UK waters as part of a Nato effort from the Mediterranean to the North Sea.

Russian navy Ropucha-class landing ship Aleksandr Otrakovsky and merchant vessel Sparta IV were tracked in the first operation, which began with HMS Cutlass of the Royal Navy's Gibraltar Squadron intercepting the Russians in the Gibraltar Strait before HMS Tyne and a Wildcat helicopter tracked them in the Channel and North Sea.

Only two days later, Tyne and a Wildcat were sent out again to observe another Russian Ropucha-class warship, Aleksandr Shabalin, and cargo vessel MV Sabetta as they sailed westward through the English Channel.

"In an increasingly contested and uncertain world, the work of HMS Mersey and 815 Naval Air Squadron is another example of the Royal Navy's enduring commitment to protecting UK home waters," Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Steve Moorhouse said.