British Patrol Vessels Intercept Russian Corvettes And Tankers In The British Strait

ILLUSTRATION/PHOTO via Instagram @royalnavy

JAKARTA - British patrol ships intercepted Russian corvettes and tankers after shadowing them through the British Strait. Russian naval activity around British waters is known to have increased by 30% over the past two years.

In the past two weeks, the HMS Severn patrol boat intercepted Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy and tanker Yelnya as they sailed through the British Strait, the British defense ministry said.

Severn has finally handed over the monitoring task to an unnamed NATO ally off Brittany's coast.

In addition to ships stationed around the British coast, Britain deployed three Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft to Iceland as part of a NATO mission patrolling Russian ships and submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic, the ministry said.

This news comes just days after Defense Minister John Healey said Russian spy ships were directed by lasers to reconnaissance aircraft pilots monitoring its activities off the coast of Scotland.

Britain calls Yantar's actions "surprising and dangerous," and insists Britain is ready to respond to any attacks on its territory.

"My message to Russia and Putin is: We saw you. We know what you did," Healey said on Wednesday last week.

The Russian Embassy in London responded to Healey's comments accusing the British government of "setting out militaristic hysteria," saying Moscow had no interest in disrupting British security.

Healey issued the warning as he presented arguments for an increase in the defense budget a week before the government released its new budget.

Although Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised a large increase in military budgets given threats from Russia, China, and Iran, the government is facing a difficult dilemma as it targets an increase in taxes and budget cuts to cover the billion-pound budget deficit.