Royal Navy Copter Reportedly Escorts Two Russian Ships in English Channel

11:11 GMT, 26 July 2018

The past seven months have seen a number of encounters between the naval ships of Russia and Britain, as Russian warships conduct missions and pass by the UK on their way from the Russian Northern fleet's bases to the Mediterranean.

Sputnik

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.

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.

Russian MoD Dismisses Claims on Interception of Russian Ship in Black Sea

8 June 2018, 14:45 GMT

In another such encounter, UK Royal Navy's frigate HMS St Albans escorted the Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov when it was in the North Sea close to the UK territorial waters in late December 2017.

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.