The Royal Navy frigate HMS Iron Duke escorted three Russian ships and a tanker into the English Channel and the North Sea last week, the UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The department noted that the six-day operation was carried out in cooperation with NATO allies. First, HMS Iron Duke escorted the submarine Novorossiysk and the tugboat Evgeniy Churov through the Pas-de-Calais Strait into the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently, the frigate returned to the North Sea, where it tracked the corvette “Stoikiy” and the tanker “Yaz”, and continued on to the Ministry of Defence. Responsibilities for monitoring the ships were transferred to French frigates, the department added.
The Ocean-2024 exercise, which will continue until September 16, started on September 10. The exercises will take place in the waters of the Pacific, Arctic, Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic oceans. More than 400 warships, submarines and support vessels, more than 120 aircraft and helicopters, about 7,000 weapons, military and special equipment, as well as 90,000 servicemen will take part in the training, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
