The number of occasions that the Royal Navy were despatched to respond to Russian Navy ships approaching UK territorial waters has doubled since 2013.

Data obtained the UK Defence Journal shows that Royal Navy vessels were despatched 31 times in 2018 to intercept and monitor the Russian Navy. This is up from 12 in 2013.

The most recent event occurred in March this year when HMS Defender intercepted a Russian task group along the coast of the UK. This involved the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and three auxiliary ships. Defender continued to track the group until they had left what the MoD described as the UK’s “area of national interest.”

“Russia has developed a more assertive military posture towards the West” Defence Minister Mark Lancaster

Commander Richard Hewitt said the operation showed the Royal Navy’s “enduring commitment to protecting our home waters and readiness to undertake such tasking whenever it’s required”.

Russian warships from its northern and Baltic fleets routinely pass through UK territorial waters en route to or from deployments in the Mediterranean and Gulf regions.