Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The fleet is intended to support NATO.
On April 9, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that the British military had exposed a Russian submarine operation in and around UK waters.
The submarines were forced to retreat back to Russia after the UK scrambled ships, aircraft, and personnel to send a message to the submarines and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“To Putin, I say this: we see you. We see your activity over our underwater infrastructure. You should know that any attempt to damage it will not be tolerated and would have serious consequences,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement.
And now, the UK and its allies are taking a major step toward protecting NATO’s northern flank.
War-ready fleet assembling
In order to counter the expanding Russian naval reach, the UK and its Northern European allies have signed a statement of intent to create a hybrid navy to support NATO’s efforts to protect the alliance’s northern flank.
In a post on X, the Royal Navy shared a picture of the signed statement and wrote:
“We are putting words into action. A hybrid navy. Northern allies. Real deterrence in the High North and North Atlantic in support of NATO.”
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Increasing Russian activities
In December 2025, the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, said that the UK had experienced a 30% increase in Russian incursions into UK waters over two years.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that nearly 100 ships from the Russian “shadow fleet” had crossed UK waters in a month.
In late March, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that British military ships had been authorized to board Russian “shadow fleet” vessels. However, given the continued activity in UK waters, the Kremlin appears undeterred by the change in policy.
Sources: X statement by the Royal Navy, Sky News, UK Ministry of Defence, Reuters, Royal Navy
