Ships of the Royal Navy of Great Britain tracked a Russian reconnaissance ship as it passed through the waters near the country.

This was reported by the Royal Navy press service.

The Royal Navy ships HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne monitored the Russian Defense Ministry’s vessel “Yantar.”

It is officially classified as an auxiliary oceanographic research vessel carrying underwater vehicles.

It is known that the “Yantar” is subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Defense and is not part of the Navy.

According to OSINT analysts, it can use deep-sea vehicles and has repeatedly operated near deep-sea infrastructure.

An AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin deck helicopter was raised from HMS Somerset to monitor its movement toward the English Channel.

When the “Yantar” neared French waters, ships from another NATO member state assumed the task of monitoring it.

Prior to that, the 814th Naval Aviation Squadron Swordfish Flight had been monitoring the Russian submarine Novorossiysk for several days.

On November 17, it was reported that the Irish Navy had withdrawn the “Yantar” from the country’s exclusive economic zone.

At the time, its presence raised concerns about the security of the interconnector cables that run between Ireland and the UK.

These cables transmit global Internet traffic from data centers operated by technology companies such as Google and Microsoft, whose EU headquarters are located in Ireland.