'What the Royal Navy exists to do': Navy spends 21 days in July tracking Russian ships in UK waters
The Royal Navy has warned that Russian ships are spending more and more time in UK waters
The Royal Navy says it spent more days than not in July monitoring Russian ships in UK waters - and has warned of increasing Russian activity off Britain.
Naval operations to monitor Russian activity increased 25% in July compared to the previous year, with warships making repeated voyages through the Dover Strait and North Sea. IN total 21 days were spent watching Russian ships last month.
Offshore patrol vessels HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey and HMS Severn were deployed throughout the month to shadow Russian frigates Neustrashimy and Admiral Grigorovich which are tasked with escorting so-called “shadow fleet” tankers.
Russia uses its shadow fleet of ageing vessels to evade international sanctions on its oil and fund the war in Ukraine.
HMS Tyne was also tasked with monitoring the Neustrashimy as it carried out a live firing exercise outside British and French waters on July 20.
Another ship, the frigate HMS Somerset, has been involved in monitoring Russian activity in the North Atlantic as part of a four-month Nato deployment searching for submarines, alongside helicopters from the Navy’s Fleet Air Arm.
Somerset’s commanding officer, Commander Matt Millyard, said: “This deployment demonstrates exactly what the Royal Navy exists to do, protect the UK and our allies from wherever our interests are threatened.
“I am immensely proud of every single member of the ship’s company for what we have achieved over the past four months.”
The increase in Russian naval activity follows the seizure of the tanker Smyrtos by Royal Marines in June, the first time British troops have directly boarded a shadow fleet vessel.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the diversion of Russian ships to escort shadow fleet vessels meant Russia was “using up valuable operational capacity to constantly guard cargo”.
Last month, the MoD said in its annual report that Royal Navy vessels had been “activated” 116 times in the year to March 2026, shadowing 61 Russian warships and 28 merchant vessels around the UK’s waters.
This reflected a 30% increase in Russian naval activity over the previous two years, and included operations to deter the spy ship Yantar that was spotted near undersea cables off Scotland in November 2025.