image sourced from original article at The Royal Navy monitored a Russian warship and a sanctioned oil tanker for 48 hours as they sailed through the English Channel. Patrol ship Mersey and a Wildcat helicopter tracked the Steregushchiy-class frigate Soobrazitelny and the tanker Anatoly Kolodkin as they moved westward.
The operation was carried out in coordination with allied forces, using radar and surveillance systems to gather intelligence. The two Russian vessels later separated, with the frigate heading back east through the Channel while the tanker continued into the Atlantic.
Royal Navy officials said the mission demonstrated the service’s readiness to respond to vessel movements in home waters amid rising global tensions. The operation follows similar recent missions in which British forces shadowed sanctioned Russian cargo ships and accompanying warships traveling from the Mediterranean to the North Sea.
