As reported by the Ministry of Defence on 8 August 2026, Royal Navy warships and helicopters spent 21 days in July monitoring Russian activity in UK waters and the North Atlantic. The ministry said overall Royal Navy activations to monitor Russian activity were up 25% across the first seven months of 2026 compared with 2025.

Four warships were deployed — HMS Somerset, HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey and HMS Severn — alongside Wildcat helicopters from 815 Naval Air Squadron and Merlin submarine-hunting aircraft. The ministry said HMS Tyne was on duty on 20 July when the Russian frigate RFN Neustrashimy carried out gunnery firings outside UK and French territorial waters, moving to five nautical miles and observing the fall of shots.

The ministry said HMS Somerset returned home on 7 August after a four-month North Atlantic deployment covering more than 24,000 nautical miles. It also said HMS Severn shadowed RFN Admiral Grigorovich and, from 23 to 26 July, Neustrashimy as it escorted the tanker MV Vulkan.