UK navy intercepts Russian vessels as Moscow steps up naval activity

A U.K. patrol ship has intercepted a Russian corvette and a tanker after shadowing them through the English Channel, the Defense Ministry said Sunday, adding that Russian naval activity around U.K. waters had increased by 30% over the past two years.

With the past two weeks, the patrol ship HMS Severn intercepted the Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy and tanker Yelnya as they sailed through the English Channel, the ministry said. The Severn eventually handed over monitoring duties to an unidentified NATO ally off the coast of Brittany.

In addition to the ships stationed around the U.K. coast, Britain has deployed three Poseidon surveillance aircraft to Iceland as part of a NATO mission patrolling for Russian ships and submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic, the ministry said.

The news comes just days after Defense Secretary John Healey told reporters that the Russian spy ship Yantar had aimed lasers at the pilots of surveillance aircraft monitoring its activities off the coast of Scotland. Britain described the Yantar’s actions as “reckless and dangerous,” adding that Britain was ready to respond to any incursions into its territory.

“My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing,’’ Healey said on Wednesday.

The Russian Embassy in London responded to Healey’s comments by accusing the British government of “whipping up militaristic hysteria,” adding that Moscow has no interest in undermining the U.K.’s security.

Healey issued the warning as he made the case for increased defense spending a week before the government releases its new budget. Even though Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged big military spending increases in light of threats from Russia, China and Iran, the government is facing tough tradeoffs as it eyes tax increases and spending cuts to close a multi-billion-pound shortfall in its finances.

英国国防部周日表示，一艘英国巡逻舰在英吉利海峡跟踪一艘俄罗斯轻型护卫舰和一艘油轮后将其拦截。国防部还补充说，过去两年里，俄罗斯海军在英国水域附近的活动增加了30%。

英国国防部称，过去两周，英国皇家海军“塞文”号巡逻舰在英吉利海峡拦截了俄罗斯轻型护卫舰“斯托伊基”号和油轮“叶利尼亚”号。“塞文”号最终在布列塔尼海岸附近将监视任务移交给一艘身份不明的北约盟军舰艇。

英国国防部表示，除了驻扎在英国海岸附近的舰艇外，英国还向冰岛部署了三架“海神”侦察机，作为北约在北大西洋和北极地区巡逻俄罗斯舰艇和潜艇的任务的一部分。

就在几天前，英国国防大臣约翰·希利告诉记者，俄罗斯间谍船“琥珀”号曾用激光照射在苏格兰海岸附近监视其活动的侦察机飞行员。英国称“琥珀”号的行为“鲁莽且危险”，并表示英国已做好准备应对任何侵犯其领土的行为。

“我对俄罗斯和普京的信息是：我们看到了你们。我们知道你们在做什么，”希利周三表示。

俄罗斯驻伦敦大使馆对希利的言论作出回应，指责英国政府“煽动军国主义歇斯底里”，并补充说，莫斯科无意破坏英国的安全。

希利发出警告，并力主增加国防开支，此时距离政府公布新预算仅剩一周时间。尽管首相基尔·斯塔默已承诺，鉴于来自俄罗斯、中国和伊朗的威胁，将大幅增加军费开支，但政府在考虑增税和削减开支以弥补数十亿英镑的财政缺口时，仍面临着艰难的权衡。