The UK has seen a 30% increase in Russian vessels threatening UK waters in the past two years, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 24 November 2025.
The announcement follows UK Defence Secretary John Healey stating at a press conference in Downing Street on 19 November that the Russian intelligence ship Yantar had directed lasers at the pilots of the Royal Air Force (RAF) P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft that were monitoring it around that time.
“We deployed a Royal Navy frigate and RAF P-8 planes to monitor and track this vessel’s every move, during which the Yantar directed lasers at our pilots,” said Healey. “That Russian action is deeply dangerous, and this is the second time this year that this ship, the Yantar, has deployed to UK waters.”
On 24 November the UK MoD stated, “In the past fortnight, Royal Navy patrol ship HMS Severn intercepted Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy and tanker Yelnya off the UK coast, in a round-the-clock shadowing operation as the Russian vessels sailed through the Dover Strait and westward through the English Channel.”
HMS Severn, a River-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV), “later handed over monitoring duties to a NATO ally off the coast of Brittany, but continued to observe from a distance and remained ready to respond to any unexpected activity,” the MoD said.
Commander Grant Dalgleish, the commanding officer of HMS Severn, was quoted by the MoD as saying, “This tasking shows the value of our patrol ships and reinforces the Royal Navy’s close liaison with our NATO allies in safeguarding the British people and protecting the internationally recognised waterways.
“I’m immensely proud of the way the ship’s company reacted to this activation,” he added, “especially coming so quickly after a demanding period of regeneration and operational training.”
In other recent encounters with the Russian Navy in October 2025 the Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan, supported by a Wildcat helicopter, tracked the Russian destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov for more than 48 hours as it transited the English Channel, while Type 23 frigate HMS Iron Duke and its Wildcat helicopter tracked the Russian ‘Kilo’-class submarine RFS Novorossiysk and its support tug Yakov Grebelsky through the English Channel and into the North Sea. HMS Iron Duke had taken over from a French FREMM-class frigate monitoring Novorossiysk through the Bay of Biscay and, in turn, handed the mission on to the Dutch and Belgian navies as the Russian ‘Kilo’ entered the North Sea.
The River-class Batch 2 OPV HMS Trent and a Wildcat helicopter had shadowed Vice Admiral Kulakov and two tankers through the English Channel during a five-day operation in August 2025.
“The UK has a wide range of military options at its disposal to keep UK waters safe,” the MoD stated on 24 November, adding that “Three RAF P-8 Poseidon aircraft have deployed to Keflavik Air Base in Iceland in the largest overseas deployment of the RAF P-8 fleet so far.”
These P-8s, from RAF Lossiemouth-based 120 Squadron, are conducting surveillance operations as part of NATO’s collective defence, patrolling for Russian ships and submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic.
While in Iceland, RAF crews are working closely with NATO allies, including the US and Canada, “reinforcing the UK’s NATO-first approach and commitment to Euro-Atlantic security in this new era of threat”, the MoD stated.
The MoD additionally noted that in October two RAF surveillance aircraft – an RC-135W Rivet Joint electronic intelligence aircraft and a P-8A, supported by a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker – conducted a 12-hour mission along Russia’s border. The aircraft collectively flew 10,000 miles (16,093 km) from the High North, past Belarus and Ukraine, and into the Black Sea, using their advanced sensors to detect Russian activity and deliver critical intelligence for analysis.
A view across the bow of the Royal Navy River-class OPV HMS Severn as it monitors Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy and tanker Yelnya as they sailed through the Dover Strait and westward through the English Channel in mid-November 2025. [Crown Copyright]