Russian warship carries out live-fire drills 46 miles off UK coast, says Ministry of Defence

A Russian warship on Monday carried out live-fire military exercise just 46 miles off the British coast, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The British Navy shadowed the warship as it conducted live-fire drills for around 30 minuntes in the international waters south of Plymouth in southern England.

A MoD spokesperson said: "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. The Royal Navy monitored that exercise throughout, continues to track the vessel's activity closely, and stands ready to protect UK national security."

While such activity is certainly a provocation, countries are free to conduct such activities in the international waters.

Sky News reported that the Russian warship, Neustrashimy, had informed British patrol ship HMS Tyne of its intention to conduct gunnery activity and requested it to reposition to a safer distance. HMS Tyne observed the drills from the safe distance.

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Sky News reported that Neustrashimy is part of the Russian warships escorting Russian shadow fleet tankers through Europe's international waters. These tankers illegally transport sectioned Russian oil. The purpose for such operations is to prevent European navies from apprehending these ships.

But British and French forces have still apprehended Russian ships in recent months. Last month, Royal Marines boarded a Russian tanker in the English Channel.

Neustrashimy's fellow ship escorting shadow fleet tankers, Admiral Grigorovich, fired at a British couple last month off the Isle of Wight. Russia said that the couple's yacht was on a "dangerous approach" but the couple junked the claim and said they were "not on a collision course".

It is common for Russian and Chinese warships and warplanes to provoke other countries with a variety of manoeuvres, such as conducting live-fire drills near their coasts, steering vessels dangerously close to their vessels, harassing civilian vessels close to territorial waters, and flying dangerously close to their planes. China does this regularly in the South China Sea in particularly and Indo-Pacific in general.