UK sends warship, chopper to tail Russian vessels
The UK Royal Navy has deployed a warship and an aircraft to shadow a Russian navy ship as it passed through the English Channel.
The air-defense destroyer HMS Diamond and a Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron were sent to the channel on Wednesday as Russian underwater reconnaissance ship Yantar entered the waters, British media reported Saturday.
“HMS Diamond met up with Yantar and will continue to monitor the vessel's movements and activities as it continues north,” said a UK navy spokesman.
According to the spokesman, the Russian ship was under surveillance by the French navy in its journey through the Bay of Biscay.
Yantar was said to be on the way back to its home port of Severomorsk after tours of the Mediterranean. British media claimed that ship was sailing near an undersea cable linking Israel and Cyprus.
Royal Air Force Chief Marshal Stuart Peach has warned of “catastrophic” consequences in case undersea cables that enable internet connections and communications across borders are attacked by adversaries such as Russia.
The 60-strong crew ship is equipped with two advanced deep-sea diving submersibles - the Rus and Konsul- that can descend to the seabed and capture images and collect items from the ocean floor.
The encounter is the latest in a series of standoffs between Russian and British military forces in the waters, which have experienced a sharp rise in recent years.
In January Royal Navy warship HMS Westminster was sent to intercept four Russian warships in international waters off UK coast.
In another instance, a Russian warship passed through the English Channel in April, amid a diplomatic row between the two countries over the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.
Official figures released last month showed that the Royal Navy intercepted Russian vessels on 33 occasions in 2017, compared to only one such mission in 2010.
The UK has ordered its military forces to respond to Russian military activity near its territories on more than 160 occasions over the past seven years.
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