HMS Mersey and HMS Severn monitor Russian naval vessels passing close to the UK

Royal Navy ships and aircraft were activated to shadow Russian naval and auxiliary vessels during another routine two-day operation in the English Channel, working closely with NATO allies to monitor the movement of Russian units returning from the Mediterranean.

OPVs HMS Mersey and HMS Severn, supported by a Wildcat maritime helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron, intercepted the Russian Steregushchiy-class corvette RFS Boikiy and the accompanying fleet oiler MV General Skobelev as they entered the Channel en route to the North Sea.

HMS Mersey first took over shadowing duties as the Russian group approached UK waters, following continuous monitoring by NATO units through the Bay of Biscay. As the transit progressed, HMS Severn joined the operation near the Isle of Wight, operating in close coordination with Mersey and the embarked Wildcat helicopter. The combined surface and air picture enabled detailed tracking, sensor collection and real-time reporting of the group’s movements through one of the busiest maritime corridors in the world.

The corvette RFS Boiky, commissioned in 2013, is part of the Russian Baltic Fleet (Photo: Netherlands Navy).MV General Skobelev is a 16,000-tonne vessel built in 2008 and sanctioned by NATO. She has been extensively involved in transporting oil from the Baltic Sea to third countries, especially in the Mediterranean (Photo: Netherlands Navy).

HMS Severn maintained surveillance as the Russian vessels exited the Channel and entered the North Sea, before responsibility was formally handed over to the Royal Netherlands Navy. UK defence ministers described the operation as part of a sustained pattern of RN activations designed to deter, track and expose Russian naval activity close to British waters.

The Channel operation followed a similar RN tasking only two weeks earlier, when HMS Mersey and a Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron intercepted the Udaloy-class destroyer Severomorsk alongside Russian merchant vessels Sparta IV and MYS Zhelaniya. That group was monitored through the Strait of Dover and the English Channel before being handed over near Ushant.

In a separate but related operation in the Mediterranean, the Gibraltar-based patrol vessel HMS Dagger tracked the sanctioned oil tanker Grinch as it transited the Strait of Gibraltar. The vessel was subsequently boarded by the French Navy, with UK support contributing to the wider allied effort to disrupt Russia’s shadow fleet.