This is the startling sight of a Russian warship passing through the English Channel.

Neustrashimy was being shadowed by the Royal Navy’s HMS Severn when it was pictured at 1.30pm yesterday, about seven miles out from the cliffs at Folkestone.

Nigel Scutt, from aviation news service Dover Strait Shipping, had the day before been tracking the frigate moving along the North Sea, escorting two Russian oil tankers thought to be headed for the Middle East.

He told KentOnline: “It has a right of passage as these are international waters but I think this was also a bit of sabre rattling.

“This has been a common sight over the years but it is a rarer sight now.

“A lot of their warships tend to be in the Black Sea now because of the situation in Ukraine.”

The journeys were made despite an embargo on Russian oil since the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Since that December, the EU prohibited the maritime transportation of Russian crude oil to third countries.

Mr Scutt explained that Neustrashimy is a Hawk-class from the late 1980s, the last years of the Soviet era.

It is one of two from that time still in active service.

In June 2023 the Russian warship Perekop was shadowed by the Royal Navy as it went through the Channel.

The same was done to the warship Admiral Grigorovich when it passed the Kent coast, going from the North Sea to the Mediterranean.

KentOnline contacted the Royal Navy for comment but it said it didn’t wan to add any more “f

Yesterday Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for 24 years, was sworn in as Russian president for the sixth time.