LONDON — The Royal Navy said on Monday that Merlin helicopters tracked the Viktor Leonov, a Vishnya-class Russian intelligence-gathering ship, as it sailed near the Outer Hebrides from September 29 to October 8 and "closely monitored" NATO warships taking part in Exercise Strike Warrior off the coast of Scotland.

Source: Kyiv Independent / Royal Navy

The exercise was a major Royal Navy-led NATO drill involving more than 2,000 personnel, eight warships and 19 aircraft from six nations, according to reporting of the Navy statement in The Herald. The reports do not say the Viktor Leonov interfered with the exercise — they say it observed the allied ships, and that British forces followed it throughout its time near the Hebrides.

The Merlin helicopters were deployed at short notice from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall to Glasgow Prestwick Airport under Operation Iceblast, a test of how quickly the force can operate away from its home base. "I am immensely proud of our people, who have once again shown that the UK can respond to immediate operational requirements," Captain James Hall, the commanding officer of RNAS Culdrose, said. "The Merlin Helicopter Force is ready to respond at a moment's notice."

2,000+Personnel in Exercise Strike Warrior, with 8 warships and 19 aircraft from 6 nations
3Royal Navy operations tracking Russian vessels in just over two weeks
25%Rise in Royal Navy activity monitoring Russian movements in the first seven months of 2026, year on year
10+ hoursSurveillance flown by the RAF Protector drone on its first home operation

The Scotland tracking was one of three operations the Navy announced together on November 2. From October 1 to 14, the destroyer HMS Dauntless and the patrol ship HMS Tyne monitored the Russian frigate Neustrashimy as it escorted sanctioned cargo ships through the English Channel, and from October 11 to 14 HMS Tyne and a Wildcat helicopter followed the landing ship Aleksandr Shabalin, a cargo ship and a tug through the Channel towards the Baltic.

Source: Army Recognition

Supporting the Channel operation, an RAF Protector RG1 drone flew its first operational sorties in UK airspace, providing more than 10 hours of surveillance between October 14 and 16 while the warships tracked the Neustrashimy — the first time the new remotely piloted aircraft has been used on a home operation of this kind.

Source: Navy Lookout

The Navy said its activity monitoring Russian movements around Britain rose 25% in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, involving warships, civilian vessels and fishing boats. Western officials have repeatedly raised the alarm over Russian espionage and hybrid activity across Europe as tensions with Moscow deepen — the backdrop against which a routine sighting of a Russian intelligence ship near a NATO exercise now draws a full public accounting from London.