Russian warship holds live-fire drill off Plymouth as Royal Navy monitors operation
A Russian warship carried out a live-fire artillery exercise 46 miles off the coast of Plymouth on Monday.
It was monitored by the Royal Navy, who are continuing to ‘track the vessel’s activity closely’, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The Russian frigate, Neustrashimy, had reportedly informed the HMS Tyne – a Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel – of its intentions to fire.
A French military aircraft also made radio contact with the warship and asked those on board to clarify its intentions.
The BBC reported that the HMS Tyne was asked to move to a safer distance while the exercise took place, lasting 30 minutes.
This is one of several Russian ships seen near UK waters this year, with a ‘shadow fleet’ oil tanker in the Channel last month.
Royal Marine Commandos boarded the tanker in a six-hour operation, the first of its kind by the UK armed forces.
Russian warships regularly pass through the international waters in the Channel, not entering UK or French territories.
UK defence sources would reportedly not comment to the BBC on whether this incident may have been timed with Andy Burnham’s arrival at Downing Street.
In June, a retired couple clashed with a Russian frigate while on their 40ft yacht, 23 miles south of the Isle of Wight.
Russia accused the Kelveys of making a ‘dangerous approach’ after news that warning shots had been fired emerged, but the couple insist they were ‘definitely not on a collision course’.
The Admiral Grigorovich frigate is thought to have been drifting at the time in foggy conditions, and the Russian navy said they came within 150 metres.
Mrs Kelvey told Newsnight: ‘[The warship] gave out five blasts on their horn, which means “have you seen us?”
‘We immediately turned two degrees to port so they could see we had made a deliberate change of course, which meant we had seen them.
‘Then a minute or so later they gave another five blasts on their horn, immediately followed by four to five small arms fire. That wasn’t aimed at us – it was warning fire that went up in the air, we believe.’
The then PM Sir Keir Starmer called it ‘reckless’ for a warship to be firing shots on a yacht in the English Channel.
The Russian Navy insists they made several attempts to contact the yacht via radio, flares and sound signals but the couple disagreed.
Mrs Kelvey said that the gunfire was ‘totally unnecessary’ adding that they ‘would have fired back if we had something’.
Earlier this year, in May, it was revealed the frigate had been watched by patrol ships for an entire month as it sailed through the North Sea.
‘There was not one day last month when the Russian warship, her supporting vessels or the ships she was tasked with escorting were not closely watched by Royal Navy air or sea power,’ a spokesperson for the Royal Navy said.
‘The Grigorovich moved between the North Sea and Western Approaches, escorting Russian-flagged vessels heading to and from the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Baltic.’
Late last year, Russia’s RFN Stoikiy was spotted sailing through the Dover Strait and was intercepted by the HMS Severn. It was then handed to a NATO ally off the coast of Brittany, but continued to be observed from a distance.
Another Russian ship – the Yantar, used to map undersea cables – appeared close to UK waters for a second time last year as well.
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