A British patrol vessel captured a Russian corvette and tanker after tracking them through the English Channel, the Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday, adding that Russian naval activity around British waters had increased by 30% in the past two years.
According to the ministry, in the past two weeks the patrol ship Severn has captured the Russian corvette RFN Stoiky and the tanker Yernya while they were sailing through the English Channel. The Severn eventually handed over its surveillance mission off the coast of Brittany to an unidentified NATO ally.
In addition to the ships stationed off the UK coast, Britain has deployed three Poseidon surveillance aircraft to Iceland as part of a NATO mission to patrol Russian ships and submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic, the ministry said.
The news comes days after Defense Secretary John Healy told reporters that the Russian spy ship Yantar had fired a laser beam at the pilot of a reconnaissance plane monitoring activity off the coast of Scotland. Britain described Yantar’s actions as “reckless and dangerous” and added that it was ready to respond to any intrusion into its territory.
In response to Mr Healy’s comments, the Russian Embassy in London accused the British government of “stoking militaristic hysteria”, adding that the Russian government had no interest in compromising Britain’s security.
Mr Healey issued the warning a week before the government announced its new budget, calling for an increase in defense spending. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised a significant increase in military spending in light of threats from Russia, China and Iran, but the government faces tough trade-offs as it looks to raise taxes and cut spending to plug a multibillion-pound budget gap.
