Royal Navy ‘watched every move’ of Russian warship as it sailed close to UK waters

The Royal Navy has shadowed a Russian warship as it sailed in waters close to the UK.

HMS Somerset “watched every move” made by the corvette Boikiy as it escorted the merchant vessel Baltic Leader through the English Channel and North Sea.

Baltic Leader’s journey had begun in Syria, with the cargo ship transporting military hardware from a Russian naval base in the city of Tartus.

The three-day operation made use of the British Type 23 frigate’s powerful sensors and radars – with a Merlin helicopter deployed to gather intelligence from the sky.

Shadowing missions are designed to monitor any potential threats to national security, including to critical infrastructure such as undersea pipelines.

Commander Joel Roberts, commanding officer of HMS Somerset, said: “Somerset is well versed in the escort of Russian ships, having conducted these operations on a number of occasions.

“Great professionalism has been shown by the ship’s company to remain vigilant whilst operating in UK waters and integrating with our NATO allies to monitor Russian activity around Europe.”

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Photographs published by The Times on Tuesday showed sailors on the Boikiy manning machine guns and burning papers.

The Plymouth-based warship helped track Yantar, a suspected Russian spy vessel, back in January.

It comes two weeks after HMS Iron Duke, HMS Tyne and RFA Tideforce monitored five ships – including three merchant vessels – as they sailed for a Russian Baltic port from Syria.