Royal Navy warships shadowed the progress of a four-strong Russian task group as it sailed up the Channel and into the North Sea, the service said last week.

The Russian Navy appears to have deployed marine mammals in Syria during the civil war two years ago. H I Sutton has the story.

Zvezda Shipyard in Bolshoi Kamen in the Far East began to cut metal for the first Leader-class nuclear icebreaker of project 10510. It has been ordered by Rosatom nuclear corporation, the Atomflot Company said.

The Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet can now deploy its submarines to the Mediterranean. This is despite an international treaty which many thought would prevent it. The Montreux Convention, agreed in 1936, prohibits submarines from passing through the Bosporus Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. There are exceptions in the treaty for special cases for Black Sea nations

Russia's controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is enjoying a naval escort. The undersea pipeline will be built in the Baltic between Russia and Germany. Two offshore supply vessels involved in the project are currently being escorted. They are accompanied by a Project 1155 Udaloy-I Class destroyer and a Project 22160 patrol ship. At the time of writing the ships are currently 40 nautical miles southwest of Brest, France.

The Marshal Shaposhnikov upgraded frigate of project 1155M may be armed with Pantsir-M air defense missile gun. Several options are being considered.

The Gremyashchy lead corvette of project 20385 returned to Severnaya verf Shipyard for primary inspection and elimination of remarks exposed by acceptance trials, the shipyard said.

Royal Navy HMS Westminster Type 23 frigate shadowed a Russian destroyer through the English Channel, the service press office stated on June 21.

The Kazan Yasen-M-class SSGN of project 885M is preparing for acceptance trials set to start this autumn. It is the first Project 885M submarine, an improved version of the Severodvinsk (Yasen-class).

Three Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates (Project 22350 ) will join the Pacific fleet of the Russian Navy. The Admiral Amelko will be the first one.