The Royal Navy has reported a 25% increase in Russian naval activity near UK waters in July compared to last year. Russian warships frequently traversed the Dover Strait and North Sea. Offshore patrol vessels HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey, and HMS Severn monitored Russian frigates Neustrashimy and Admiral Grigorovich, which escort shadow fleet tankers used by Russia to evade sanctions on oil exports. HMS Tyne monitored Neustrashimy during a live firing exercise outside British and French waters on July 20. The frigate HMS Somerset participated in NATO's four-month deployment in the North Atlantic searching for submarines while monitoring Russian activity. The surge follows the seizure in June by Royal Marines of the tanker Smyrtos, marking the first British direct boarding of a shadow fleet vessel. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that Russia is using operational capacity to escort shadow fleet vessels. In the year to March 2026, Royal Navy vessels were activated 116 times, shadowing 61 Russian warships and 28 merchant vessels, reflecting a 30% increase over two years and including operations against spy ship Yantar near undersea cables off Scotland in November 2025.

The Royal Navy has reported a 25% increase in Russian naval activity near UK waters in July compared to last year. Russian warships frequently traversed the Dover Strait and North Sea. Offshore patrol vessels HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey, and HMS Severn monitored Russian frigates Neustrashimy and Admiral Grigorovich, which escort shadow fleet tankers used by Russia to evade sanctions on oil exports. HMS Tyne monitored Neustrashimy during a live firing exercise outside British and French waters on July 20. The frigate HMS Somerset participated in NATO's four-month deployment in the North Atlantic searching for submarines while monitoring Russian activity. The surge follows the seizure in June by Royal Marines of the tanker Smyrtos, marking the first British direct boarding of a shadow fleet vessel. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that Russia is using operational capacity to escort shadow fleet vessels. In the year to March 2026, Royal Navy vessels were activated 116 times, shadowing 61 Russian warships and 28 merchant vessels, reflecting a 30% increase over two years and including operations against spy ship Yantar near undersea cables off Scotland in November 2025.