LONDON, October 8. /TASS/. HMS Mersey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel of the British Royal Navy, was dispatched to monitor a group of three Russian Navy ships crossing the English Channel, the Royal Navy’s press service said in a statement.
"HMS Mersey met up with the [Russian guided missile frigate Yaroslav] Mudryy, plus her supporting tanker Yelnya and the seagoing tug Viktor Konetsky on Saturday as the trio entered the UK’s area of interest on Saturday - and stuck with them as they continued through Dover and into the Channel," the statement says.
"She is due to complete her shadow mission later today when the Russians leave UK waters," it says.
The Baltic Fleet’s press service said earlier on Monday that the Russian task group, which is en route to the Indian Ocean, completed its crossing of the English Channel. During their long-distance deployment, the combat teams of the Yaroslav Mudry practiced searching for and detecting a notional enemy’s submarines during anti-subsurface warfare drills in the Atlantic.
The warships embarked on their long-distance deployment from the Baltic Fleet’s main naval base of Baltiysk in the westernmost Kaliningrad Region on October 1 and are heading for the Indian Ocean where they will take part for the first time in the naval component of the Indra-2019 Russian-Indian drills that will run on December 10-19. The warships are on their long-distance deployment in compliance with the plan of the Russian Defense Ministry’s international activity this year.
The Indra-2019 drills will run at land and naval training ranges and at a military aerodrome of the Indian Armed Forces. About 300 troops from Russia’s Eastern Military District will take part in the drills.