The Royal Navy has issued a warning regarding a significant surge in Russian naval activity near United Kingdom waters. Data from the past month indicates that the service spent 21 days in July shadowing Moscow’s vessels, representing a 25% increase in monitoring operations compared to the same period last year. These naval missions involved repeated voyages through the North Sea and the Strait of Dover.
Multiple naval assets were deployed throughout July to track the Russian frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Neustrashimy. These frigates are reportedly tasked with escorting Russia’s so-called "shadow fleet" of ageing tankers. The Royal Navy utilized offshore patrol vessels, including HMS Severn, HMS Mersey, and HMS Tyne, alongside Merlin submarine-hunting aircraft and Wildcat helicopters from the 815 Naval Air Squadron. On 20 July, HMS Tyne specifically monitored the Neustrashimy as it conducted live-firing exercises positioned outside of British and French waters.
According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), this trend follows a broader pattern of increased activity. In an annual report released last month, the MoD stated that Royal Navy vessels were activated 116 times in the year leading up to March 2026. These operations involved shadowing 28 merchant vessels and 61 Russian warships, marking a 30% rise in activity over the previous two years. Past operations have included efforts to deter the Russian spy ship Yantar, which was detected near undersea cables off the coast of Scotland last November.
The British government has accused Vladimir Putin of utilizing a shadow fleet of older vessels to circumvent international oil sanctions and generate funds for the ongoing war in Ukraine. In June, Royal Marines seized the tanker Smyrtos, marking the first time British forces have directly boarded a vessel belonging to this fleet. The MoD noted that Russia is currently diverting warships to guard these tankers, effectively consuming valuable operational capacity. While the UK has sanctioned more than 500 vessels, Russia saw its oil and gas revenues decline by 24% year-on-year in 2025.
Further west, the frigate HMS Somerset has been engaged in a four-month Nato deployment, monitoring Russian activity and searching for submarines in the North Atlantic. Reflecting on the mission, the ship's commanding officer, Cmdr Matt Millyard, stated on Saturday that the deployment demonstrates the Royal Navy's commitment to protecting the UK and its allies wherever interests are threatened, adding that he is proud of the achievements made by the ship's company over the four-month period.
