A Russian warship, escorted by a ship of the Royal Navy of Great Britain, conducted artillery exercises on Monday about 40 nautical miles (about 74 km) south of Plymouth, reports Evropeyskaya Pravda, quoted by Focus.
The British navy has been monitoring the course of the exercises and continues to "carefully monitor the ship"s activities," a representative of the British Ministry of Defense said.
We are talking about the Russian frigate "Neustrashimy", which was also observed by a French military aircraft. According to the BBC, the crew of the plane established radio contact with the ship and asked the Russian side to clarify its intentions.
Before the shooting began, the Russian ship informed the British patrol ship HMS Tyne of its intention to conduct artillery exercises. The Russian side asked the British ship to move to a safer distance, after which HMS Tyne changed its position.
The exercises lasted about 30 minutes and took place in international waters.
The exercises take place against the backdrop of increased activity by the Russian naval fleet near British waters in recent months. The British Ministry of Defense has not commented on whether the exercises were related to the inauguration of the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.