The Royal Navy has warned of increasing Russian activity around the UK’s waters after it spent 21 days in July monitoring Moscow’s ships. Naval operations to monitor Russian vessels increased by 25% last month compared with the previous year, with warships making repeated voyages through the strait of Dover and the North Sea. This reflected a 30% increase in Russian naval activity over the previous two years and included operations to deter the spy ship Yantar, which was spotted near undersea cables off Scotland last November. The MoD said the diversion of ships from Russia to escort shadow fleet vessels meant the country was “using up valuable operational capacity to constantly guard cargo”. Somerset’s commanding officer, Cmdr Matt Millyard, said on Saturday: “This deployment demonstrates exactly what the Royal Navy exists to do: protect the UK and our allies from wherever our interests are threatened.