Royal Navy tracks Russian frigate for one month off UK coast | Royal Navy
Britain’s Royal Navy tracked and pursued a Russian frigate that sailed from the Atlantic to the North Sea last month; Moscow has increased its presence at sea following the UK’s threat to seize shadow fleet oil tankers.
Russian navy Admiral Grigorovich was constantly monitored by four British ships and helicopters throughout April as he escorted six Russian-linked ships, including at least three ships under economic sanctions, passing east through the Dover Strait.
The frigate, which naval observers believed remained in the North Sea, managed to maintain its presence near Britain by picking up supplies near the Galloper wind farm off the Suffolk coast.
A second frigate, Admiral Kasatonov, passed through the Channel in late April, escorting two merchant ships thought to be heading towards Tartus in Syria; one of these, Sparta, was linked to arms transportation.
This convoy was being monitored by a British auxiliary ship, RFA Tideforce, as part of a wider commitment to address the UK’s limited naval resources as maritime tensions between London and Moscow escalate.
Defense secretary John Healey said a month ago that the British navy had tracked three Russian submarines on a month-long mission as they navigated pipelines and cables near British waters, possibly spying on infrastructure below.
Elisabeth Braw, security expert at the Atlantic Council think tank, said: “This is completely disproportionate; navies normally only escort ships when there is a clear military threat, such as the Houthis in the Red Sea.”
Besides occasional arms shipments, Russia also relies on a shadow fleet of often old, poorly maintained tankers sailing under third-country flags for roughly half of its seaborne oil exports.
Braw added: “Russia decided that this was an indispensable source of revenue that could be disrupted. Frankly, the Russians would not have allocated frigates if they thought these ships would not run into problems.”
Keir Starmer issued a statement on March 25 announcing that the military had been able to seize ships passing through UK waters that were subject to existing economic sanctions.
This appeared to announce the power the UK already had to seize ships deemed to be in breach of maritime law; but he also confirmed that an intergovernmental process to evaluate potential seizures had been agreed.
The Prime Minister said he would go after Vladimir Putin’s “shadow fleet” even harder to help protect Britain and “deprive Putin’s war machine of the dirty profits that are funding his barbaric campaign in Ukraine”.
Since then the UK has not led the seizure of any shadow fleet tankers and is likely deterred by the nearby presence of Russian warships.
Braw said: “The Russian government has shown that it is willing to use naval power to protect ships violating maritime rules. This makes it much more difficult for coastal states to intervene. You have to be prepared to risk conflict with the escort.”
Other European countries have seized shadow fleet ships this year, but it is unclear whether any have been escorted. Sweden detained five tankers; the last of these, Jin HuiHe was boarded on Sunday on suspicion of flying under a false flag.
France seized two Russian-linked tankers with British help this year, but each was released after their owners paid fines. Belgian special forces seized an oil tanker bound for Russia with French help at the end of February; prosecutors said he mistakenly flew the Guinean flag.
In early January, the US seized the Bella 1 or Marinera tanker, which was accompanied by a Russian submarine. As he made his way to Venezuela, defying the US blockade, he turned back to avoid capture. In the days that followed, his crew painted a Russian flag over the side, but it was eventually shot down and captured in the North Atlantic by the United States with British assistance.
