Russian corvette and tanker violate British territorial waters

The British Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the British patrol ship HMS Severn had been monitoring the Russian corvette RFN Stoikiy and the tanker Yelnya for two weeks as they sailed through the English Channel.

Severn eventually transferred surveillance functions to an unnamed NATO ally off the coast of Brittany.

The news comes days after Defence Secretary John Healy told reporters that the Russian spy ship Yantar had aimed lasers at pilots of reconnaissance aircraft monitoring its activities off the coast of Scotland.

Britain called Yantar's actions "reckless and dangerous," adding that the country was ready to respond to any invasion of its territory.

Overall, according to the British Ministry of Defense, Russian naval activity in the waters around the United Kingdom has increased by 30% over the past two years.

The department added that, in addition to the ships based off the coast of the UK, the kingdom has deployed three Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft to Iceland as part of a NATO mission to patrol Russian ships and submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic.