UK Navy intercepts Russian corvette, tanker along coastal waters

The Royal Navy monitored and intercepted the Russian corvette Stoyky and tanker Yelnya as they passed along the British coastline, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The patrol ship HMS Severn shadowed the Russian vessels for two weeks as they transited the Dover Strait and moved along the western coast, the Associated Press reports.

Observation was later handed over to a NATO ally off the coast of Brittany, while HMS Severn continued monitoring from a distance. The exact timing of the interception was not disclosed by the UK MoD.

According to the ministry, the number of Russian ships passing near British waters has increased by 30% over the past two years.

Additionally, the UK has deployed three P-8 Poseidon aircraft to Iceland as part of an expanded NATO mission to monitor Russian ships and submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic.

By Khagan Isayev