Overview
- HMS Severn tracked the Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy and the tanker Yelnya through the Dover Strait in recent weeks, describing the operation as an interception.
- After shadowing the vessels, the UK warship handed monitoring to an unnamed NATO ally off Brittany and continued to observe from a distance in readiness to respond.
- The Ministry of Defence reports roughly a 30% increase in Russian naval activity around UK waters over the past two years.
- Britain has deployed three P-8 Poseidon aircraft to Iceland under NATO tasking to patrol the North Atlantic and Arctic for Russian ships and submarines.
- Defence Secretary John Healey alleges the spy ship Yantar targeted RAF aircrew with lasers off Scotland, a claim the Russian Embassy rejects as alarmist, as ministers press their case for higher defence spending before the new budget.