Royal Navy intercepts Russian warship within the English Channel as MoD confirms ’round the clock operation’ coping with Putin’s vessels

The Royal Navy has intercepted a Russian warship in the English Channel amid what the Ministry of Defence says is a sharp rise in Moscow‘s naval activity close to British waters.

According to officials, UK patrol vessel HMS Severn shadowed the Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy and the tanker Yelnya over the past two weeks as they made their way through the busy shipping lane. 

Severn later passed monitoring duties to a NATO partner off the coast of Brittany.

The MoD says Russian movements around the UK have surged by 30 per cent in the past two years.

Alongside the ships stationed around Britain’s coastline, three Poseidon surveillance aircraft have been deployed to Iceland in support of a NATO mission tracking Russian vessels and submarines across the North Atlantic and Arctic.

The heightened tensions come just days after John Healey revealed that the Russian spy ship Yantar had directed lasers at pilots flying surveillance aircraft off Scotland. 

Britain condemned the behaviour as ‘reckless and dangerous,’ warning that it would respond to any incursions.

‘My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing,’ John Healey, the Defence Secretary, said on Wednesday.

The deck of the HMS Severn looks out toward the Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy off the UK coast

HMS Hurworth tracks RFN Stoikiy. The MoD says Russian movements around the UK have surged by 30 per cent in the past two years

An infrared photograph of Russian spy ship Yantar taken following its recent arrival to the edge of British waters. It is thought to be capable of mapping underwater cables

The Russian Embassy in London fired back, accusing the UK of ‘whipping up militaristic hysteria’ and insisting Moscow had no intention of threatening Britain’s security.

Healey’s warning comes as he presses for increased defence spending ahead of next week’s budget. 

Keir Starmer has promised major boosts to military funding amid threats from Russia, China and Iran but the government is wrestling with tax rises and spending cuts as it tries to plug a multibillion pound financial gap.

Last November, the ship was sent packing after ‘loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure’ off the coast of Cornwall, having been chased out of the Irish Sea – and it was then seen again in January.

Actions to intercept and monitor the boat once more were a ‘demonstration of a British readiness to act, a British capability to act’, Mr Healey said.

He said of the boat: ‘It isn’t just a naval operation – it’s part of a Russian programme… that is designed to have capabilities which can undertake surveillance in peacetime and sabotage in conflict.

‘Make no mistake: we will not tolerate a threat to the British people’s essential connections underwater.’

Downing Street has not said what representations the Government has made to Russia following the appearance of the Yantar off British waters. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: ‘Our position on Russian interference is clear… (but) I’m not going to get into conversations on the diplomatic level.’

Defence Secretary John Healey said a Russian spy ship had been spotted on the edge of UK waters

As Mr Healey gave his speech at Downing Street last Wednesday, the infrared photograph of the Yantar was displayed on a television screen

The Yantar (front) has made two visits to the edge of British territory in the last year – both times in areas where key underwater infrastructure is situated

The Yantar is thought to be capable of launching submersibles capable of cutting undersea cables – which could cripple the UK’s telecoms infrastructure. Moscow claims it is an ‘oceanographic research vessel’.

It also passed through the English channel in 2018, and has been seen near Brazil and in the Mediterranean in areas where underwater infrastructure lies.

Some 99 per cent of all internet traffic is passed through undersea cables, making them particularly vulnerable if attacked – and a potent target for Putin should he wish to cripple Western nations.

Last year, a power cable and four fibre optic cables between Finland and Estonia were damaged by a cargo ship carrying Russian oil – alleged to be part of Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’ of vessels sailing with malicious intent.

Authorities accused the Eagle S of deliberately dragging its anchor to damage the cables. Russia has branded claims of a shadow fleet as a ‘myth’. Helsinki District Court in Finland dismissed the case last month due to lack of jurisdiction.

The Defence Secretary has changed the Navy’s rules of engagement allowing it to follow the Yantar at close distance (as seen in an image released by the MoD today)