The Royal Navy and NATO forces tracked a Russian intelligence vessel operating near allied warships during major military exercises in the Norwegian Sea, according to reports from the UK Defence Journal.
Images released by the official UK Carrier Strike Group account on 21 May showed a Type 45 destroyer sailing close to the Russian spy ship Yury Ivanov during NATO’s Exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2026.
The operation involved coordination between the UK Carrier Strike Group and Standing NATO Maritime Group 1.
A post from the Carrier Strike Group account stated: “CSG + @COM_SNMG1 = NATO coordination into action.”
NATO Maritime Command confirmed that the Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida and a Royal Navy Merlin Mk2 helicopter operating from HMS Prince of Wales were involved in shadowing the Russian vessel.
The Yury Ivanov is designed for signals intelligence gathering and monitoring allied naval operations.
Its appearance near NATO exercises came as Russia concluded a separate three-day nuclear weapons exercise involving ballistic and cruise missile launches in the Barents Sea.
Exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2026 is currently taking place along the Norwegian coastline and in the Norwegian Sea, involving military aircraft, warships and submarines from several NATO nations.
Participating countries include Canada, France, Germany, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The exercise focuses on anti-submarine warfare training, with NATO forces practising the detection and tracking of underwater threats in one of the world’s most strategically important maritime regions.
Bret Grabbe, commander of NATO submarines, said the operation “demonstrates NATO’s ability to operate together in one of the world’s most strategically important maritime regions”.
He added the drills reinforce NATO’s “commitment to the security of the High North and the North Atlantic”.
HMS Prince of Wales is currently leading the UK Carrier Strike Group deployment while operating alongside NATO naval forces during the exercise.