For thirty minutes, the guns of a Russian frigate pounded empty water 46 miles off the British coast. The Neustrashimy carried out the live-fire artillery drill on Monday in the sea south of Plymouth, according to Sky News.
The Royal Navy ship HMS Tyne had been trailing the Russian vessel. Just before the firing began, the Russian crew radioed the British ship and asked it to move away. HMS Tyne did.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed the exercise. “A Russian naval vessel shadowed by the Royal Navy conducted a live-fire weapons exercise in international waters approximately 40 nautical miles south of Plymouth yesterday,” a spokesperson said. The ministry added that the Royal Navy “monitored that exercise throughout, continues to track the vessel’s activity closely, and stands ready to protect UK national security.”
An unusual place to fire
A defence source told Sky News that firing heavy guns in that area is highly unusual. The timing also drew attention. The drill took place on the day Andy Burnham took office as prime minister, and it landed on the desk of Wes Streeting, the new defence secretary, on his first day. Some observers suspect the timing was deliberate and meant as a greeting to the new government, a reading Dagens reported without any comment from Moscow to back it.
When the shooting stopped, the frigate carried on with its wider mission.
That mission, according to Sky News, is escorting Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers through the Channel. Helicopters recently filmed the Neustrashimy refuelling in the North Sea.
Tensions in the Channel
The encounter follows a run of confrontations in these waters. Last month British forces seized a Russian tanker near the Isle of Wight for violating international sanctions. Former prime minister Keir Starmer had authorized such intercepts.
