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The Royal Navy tracked and intercepted Russian intelligence and military vessels, including the spy ship Viktor Leonov, which was monitoring NATO 's Exercise Strike Warrior off the coast of Scotland over a 17-day period.
British patrol ship HMS Tyne and Merlin helicopters shadowed several Russian ships, such as the frigate Neustrashimy and landing ship Aleksandr Shabalin, as they escorted sanctioned cargo through the English Channel and surrounding waters.
Western security officials warned that Russia is increasingly employing hybrid warfare, combining maritime espionage, commercial supply-line escorts, and deniable sabotage to test NATO vulnerabilities below the threshold of open conflict.
The maritime operations align with broader UK efforts to dismantle Russia's shadow fleet and disrupt sanction-evading oil transport, which has seen Britain sanction over 500 vessels and execute direct interdictions like the boarding of the tanker Smyrtos.
The naval intelligence gathering comes amidst heightened domestic security concerns, with Ministry of Defence sites reporting 340 drone-related security incidents in the year to August 2026, raising further questions Britain's defence preparedness against hostile espionage.
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