Russian naval activity around UK rose 41% in 2026, minister says as Royal Navy plans wider defensive effort
Russian naval activity around the United Kingdom increased by 41% in the first nine months of 2026, UK defence minister Luke Pollard said, as the Royal Navy announced plans to step up a maritime defensive effort involving 10 countries. The announcement was made on 10 November 2026.
Pollard, who holds the post of minister for defence readiness, spoke at the Royal Navy's International Sea Power conference, held on the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales in Oslo. According to Pollard, the Russian spy ship Yantar sailed near UK waters in 2026 to obtain a picture of critical national infrastructure, the systems a country relies on such as power and communications, and to map undersea cables.
The new effort is called the Northern Navies Initiative and is led by the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy's own news listing describes it as involving the Royal Navy and its partners in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a grouping of northern European navies. The UK, the Netherlands and Baltic and Nordic countries are part of the initiative.
A central aim is to allow sea drones, unmanned vessels that operate without a crew on board, from the UK and other countries to work interchangeably with warships from the countries taking part. Warships are the larger naval vessels that carry out patrols and defensive operations.
Funding for the drones is set out in the UK's defence investment plan, announced in June, which includes £1.5bn over four years for sea drones.
The question of how many surface warships the UK will have is also in view. The Guardian reported that the number of UK frigates, a mid-sized class of warship, could fall from 12 in 2021 to three by 2030.
