UK says Russian ship held live-fire drill in Channel waters

A Russian naval ship carried out a live-fire weapons exercise in international waters off southern England, Britain's defence ministry said.

The ministry said the ship was in the Channel about 40 miles, or 74 kilometres, south of the UK port of Plymouth on Monday when it informed the British naval patrol vessel HMS Tyne that it intended to fire and asked it to move to a safer position.

The ministry said the exercise was then carried out in international waters and lasted 30 minutes. The British Navy monitored the exercise and was continuing to track the vessel closely.

Newly appointed UK defence minister Wes Streeting described the incident at a London press conference as performative and irresponsible. He said Russia should understand the government's resolve to oppose Russian aggression in Ukraine and against UK allies.

British media named the ship as the Neustrashimy, a frigate in Russia's Baltic Fleet. They also noted that the incident took place on the first day in office of Britain's new prime minister, Andy Burnham.

In June, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a yacht in the English Channel. Russia said the boat was on a dangerous course. Britain's defence ministry downplayed that incident at the time, calling it isolated and saying it was intended to prevent a possible collision.

The source says 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, around the time of the yacht incident, British armed forces intercepted a sanctioned Russian tanker in the first UK-led operation of its kind.