Overview
- HMS Mersey and a Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron conducted the latest 48-hour shadowing mission in UK waters.
- The operation tracked Russian warship RFS Soobrazitelny and the sanctioned oil tanker MV Anatoly Kolodkin as they moved west through the Channel.
- At the western approaches, the vessels separated, with Mersey following Soobrazitelny back east while the tanker continued into the Atlantic.
- Royal Navy leaders emphasized readiness and intelligence gathering, pointing to allied coordination to safeguard home waters.
- The mission continues a recent pattern of NATO-coordinated monitoring that earlier saw HMS Tyne shadow Ropucha-class landing ships with accompanying merchant traffic.