The Royal Navy says it intercepted two Russian naval vessels as they passed west through the Dover Strait into the English Channel. HMS Severn shadowed the RFN Stoikiy, a corvette, and the tanker Yelnya during the encounter in the past fortnight, the UK Ministry of Defence reported. After initially tracking the pair, Severn handed monitoring duties to a NATO partner off the coast of Brittany but continued to observe from a distance and remained ready to respond to any unexpected activity. The episode follows another recent incident involving the Russian intelligence vessel Yantar, which was spotted off Scotland. Defence Secretary John Healey described the Yantar's use of lasers against RAF aircrew trying to track the ship as deeply dangerous and warned Moscow that the UK was watching and prepared to act. Healey also said the number of Russian vessels posing a threat to UK waters has risen by about 30% over the last two years. The Stoikiy is not new to British waters. In May the Royal Navy deployed two ships and the 814 Naval Air Squadron — known as the "Flying Tigers" — to shadow Stoikiy as it transited the Channel to rendezvous with other Russian vessels, including Sparta IV and General Skobelev. Those ships and two merchant vessels returned toward the Baltic Sea while being monitored by HMS Hurworth. HMS Severn, built in 2002, is a River-class offshore patrol vessel. Alongside her sister ships HMS Tyne and HMS Mersey, the navy says these patrol vessels are tasked with escorting foreign warships, carrying out fishing inspections and helping to protect the UK border. Healey has framed the rise in maritime activity as part of a broader increase in Russian aggression that affects Europe as well as Ukraine, and said he has adjusted Royal Navy rules of engagement so vessels can follow the Yantar more closely when it operates in the UK's wider waters.
