Royal Navy warships have spent the past week shadowing four Russian Navy vessels that sailed through the Channel off the Kent coast.

In a six-day operation with Nato allies, the Portsmouth-based frigate HMS Iron Duke tracked the Kilo-class submarine Novorossiysk and its supporting tug Evgeny Churov through the Dover Strait and into the Atlantic.

The operation started at the beginning of September when Canadian warship HMCS Shawinigan escorted the diesel-powered submarine and her support vessel as they sailed from the Baltic and headed across the North Sea.

The Canadian patrol ship handed over monitoring duties to the Royal Navy as the Russian vessels approached the busy Dover Strait.

From there HMS Iron Duke constantly watched on the two vessels, using her many sensors including her Wildcat helicopter, from 815 Naval Air Squadron, in the air.

The submarine remained on the surface throughout the operation.

Once the Russian vessels had passed UK waters, HMS Iron Duke handed over shadowing duties to the Marine Nationale off the northwest coast of France, where the frigate FS Auvergne took up the mission.

The ship then returned immediately to the North Sea for a near carbon copy operation – this time with Steregushchiy-class corvette Stoiky and tanker MT Yaz as it approached Dover, picking up shadowing duties from the Belgian Navy, whose patrol vessel BNS Castor had kept watch up to that point.

HMS Iron Duke then handed over monitoring duties to patrol ship HMS Tyne off north western France.

The journeys past the UK were permitted under international law in accordance with the right of innocent passage.

But the Ministry of Defence stresses that throughout this time the Russian warships and their support vessels were closely monitored by UK forces to ensure they acted in a safe and non-threatening manner.

Russia continues to be widely seen as an international pariah in its continuing war against Ukraine after invading it in February 2022.

Meanwhile, two RAF Typhoons were scrambled from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland on Wednesday to intercept two Russian Bear-F aircraft operating near the UK.

They were supported by a Voyager from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

The RAF jets were launched under Nato command to monitor the aircraft as they passed through international airspace. The Typhoon fighters escorted the aircraft out of the UK’s Flight Information Region and at no time did the Russian aircraft enter UK sovereign airspace.

Defence secretary John Healey MP said: “This government is committed to making the UK secure at home and strong abroad.

“Efforts by the Royal Navy and RAF over the last two weeks demonstrate their selfless commitment to protecting our national security.”

David Armstrong, commanding officer of HMS Iron Duke, said: “These were the fourth and fifth such operations for HMS Iron Duke since we emerged from a period of intense training in July.

“I am extremely proud of the professionalism and selfless dedication that my ship’s company consistently display as they perform their duty.

“Maritime security operations of this nature are a fundamental capability of the Royal Navy, with the protection of our sovereign waters and critical national infrastructure a key focus.