Russian warship carries out live-fire exercise in Channel: UK

LONDON: A Russian naval ship carried out a live-fire weapons exercise in international waters in the Channel south of the UK port city of Plymouth, the British defense ministry said Tuesday.
The ship located around 40 miles (74 km) south of the English coast on Monday informed a British naval patrol vessel, HMS Tyne, of its intention to fire and asked it to move to a safer position, the ministry said.
“The exercise was subsequently carried out in international waters and lasted for 30 minutes.”
The British Navy monitored the exercise and was continuing to track the vessel closely, the ministry said.
British media named the ship as the Neustrashimy, a frigate in Russia’s Baltic Fleet, noting the incident happened on the first day in office of Britain’s new prime minister.
It came after a Russian warship in June fired warning shots to a yacht in the English Channel.
Russia said that boat was on a dangerous course and the British defense ministry concurred that Moscow acted to prevent a possible collision.
Russian warships are reportedly being used to escort tankers through the Channel that are associated with Russia’s “shadow fleet” of sanctions-breaking ships.
Last month, British armed forces intercepted a sanctioned tanker in the first such UK-led operation.