A ROYAL Navy warship monitored four Russian ships, including a destroyer, as they sheltered from rough weather off the coast of Scotland.

Patrol ship HMS Tyne shadowed two warships and an intelligence-gathering vessel as they carried out refuelling operations with their supporting tanker. The Russian Navy ships sailed into the Moray Firth to shelter from rough weather this week as they travelled through the North Sea close to UK territorial waters.

The group of Russian ships included the Udaloy-class destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov, Vishnya-class intelligence-gathering ship Viktor Leonov, Steregushchy-class frigate Steregushchy and the tanker Akademik Pashin.

HMS Tyne, a patrol vessel, observed the ships as they refuelled ahead of continuing with their journey. Two other Russian ships sheltered in the Moray Firth when Storm Aiden hit on October 31.