The press service of Russia's Black Sea Fleet reported earlier this week that the patrol ship Vasily Bykov is for the first time passing through the English Channel as the vessel is on its way to St. Petersburg to take part in the Russian Navy Day parade.
The Royal Navy's HMS Forth shadowed the Russian patrol ship Vasily Bykov as she was passing through the English Channel, in what became the UK warship's first mission, the Daily Star reports.
The newspaper quoted Lieutenant Samuel Fields, the HMS Forth's executive officer, as saying that “this is normal business for the Royal Navy, being prepared at all times to respond to any vessels in the UK's area of interest.”
He described HMS Forth as one of the UK warships “kept at very high readiness to protect the integrity of UK waters”. The vessel is expected to be sent to the Falklands after wrapping up patrolling missions before the end of this year.
The press service of Russia's Southern Military District , for its part, reported earlier this week that the patrol ship Vasily Bykov had for the first time started to pass through the English Channel after she left the zone of responsibility of the Black Sea Fleet and came under control of the Baltic Fleet's command.
As part of the inter-fleet transition, the ship will cover more than 5,000 nautical miles, passing through the Black, Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean, North and Baltic Seas, as well as part of the Atlantic Ocean.
After arriving in St….
