The Royal Navy has released images of a Russian warship it tracked sailing near British waters as part of a three-day monitoring operation.
HMS Somerset, a Type 23 frigate, shadowed the Russian corvette Boikiy as it passed through the English Channel and North Sea, escorting a merchant vessel returning from Syria to Russia. The operation was conducted with support from NATO forces and maritime patrol aircraft.
This is the latest instance of Russian naval activity near the British coast, with several similar incidents recorded in recent months.
Three-Day Monitoring Operation
The Royal Navy confirmed that the operation began on Saturday, as Boikiy moved south through the North Sea and English Channel to meet the merchant vessel, identified as Baltic Leader. HMS Somerset used its radar systems to track movements, while a Merlin helicopter from its naval air squadron was launched to gather intelligence from the air.
According to reports, the Baltic Leader was transporting military hardware from Russia’s naval base in Tartus, Syria. The Times reported that crew members aboard Boikiy were seen burning papers and manning the ship’s machine guns during the escort mission.
Sanctions and Suspicious Activity
Satellite imagery from Reports Verify confirmed that the Baltic Leader was docked in Tartus on 1 February. At the time, its publicly available tracker was switched off, according to ship tracking data from MarineTraffic.
Although the exact cargo remains unknown, imagery showed containers and other equipment on the dock near the vessel before its departure.
The Baltic Leader is owned by Russian shipping company MG-Flot LLC, which has been sanctioned by the UK government for allegedly aiding Russian efforts to destabilise Ukraine. The vessel was also targeted by US sanctions in 2022 due to its links to Promsvyazbank, a Russian financial institution blacklisted following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Royal Navy Response
Commander Joel Roberts, HMS Somerset’s commanding officer, highlighted the importance of the operation.
“Somerset is well-versed in the escort of Russian ships, having conducted these operations on a number of occasions. Great professionalism has been shown by the ship’s company to remain vigilant whilst operating in UK waters and integrating with our NATO allies to monitor Russian activity around Europe.”
This marks the second time this year that HMS Somerset has been deployed to track Russian naval movements off the British coast.
Rising Russian Naval Presence
The operation follows a similar Royal Navy mission two weeks ago, when British forces monitored five Russian ships, including three merchant vessels, as they travelled from Syria to a Baltic port.
In January, Defence Secretary John Healey told MPs that the Royal Navy had tracked the Russian intelligence ship Yantar near British waters. He accused the vessel of gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s underwater infrastructure, calling the incident “another example of growing Russian aggression.”
The Russian embassy in London dismissed the claims as “absolutely baseless.”
Western nations have increasingly monitored Yantar’s movements, suspecting it of conducting undersea surveillance operations, particularly targeting undersea cables. Russia has faced repeated accusations of escalating such activity since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
