Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a hard line toward the United Kingdom by dispatching the missile frigate Admiral Grigorovich into the English Channel, according to a report by the Daily Express. The outlet frames the move as a pointed signal to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, suggesting it served to put him in his place.

The publication portrays the deployment as a public slight, arguing that the passage of the warship through the Channel amounted to a deliberate challenge directed at London.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph reported that the Admiral Grigorovich escorted two Russian oil tankers as they transited the strait, underscoring the operation’s protective dimension.

Military analyst Vasily Dandykin, a retired first-rank captain, assessed that any attempt to seize the tankers in the Channel could have escalated into a serious military confrontation. In his view, the frigate would have been capable of delivering a significant strike against British naval forces if hostilities had broken out.