A UK Royal Navy helicopter was scrambled to shadow a Russian Navy repair ship and tugboat passing through the English Channel en route to their operational posting in the Mediterranean Sea near Syria, the Daily Star quoted military sources as saying on Thursday.
"Working with our allies, two Russian ships were escorted through the English Channel yesterday while a Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter conducted surveillance overhead," the sources said.
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In late June, the Daily Mail reported that the Royal Navy had scrambled a frigate to intercept two Russian Steregushchiy-class corvettes as they approached the English Channel.
Earlier this year, the Royal Navy Patrol ship HMS Mersey and a Wildcat helicopter were monitoring a Russian naval force group when it was crossing the English Channel to return to its base of Severomorsk from Syria, according to a Royal statement.
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The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly stressed that the vessels passing through the English Channel are doing so strict accordance with international law and without violating the maritime borders of other states.
