The pictures that show how the UK is fighting back against Putin's brinkmanship

The UK’s response to Russia’s brinkmanship centers on an interception of a Russian “Bear-F” aircraft, which the Ministry of Defence says was unsafe after repeated harassment of a Royal Navy warship. The Russian maritime patrol aircraft flew “unnecessarily close” to HMS Prince of Wales, Britain’s largest warship, and dropped dozens of sonobuoys near the vessel. According to the MoD, the incident occurred last Thursday, shortly before Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis visited the ship two days later, and the MoD called the action “unsafe and unprofessional”. British fighter jets scrambled, intercepted the Bear, and escorted it out of the area while the navy attempted to contact the crew without success. Sonobuoys are intended to detect and track submarines, and the article notes it is unclear whether they emitted disruptive noise in this case. Analysts say such moves fit a pattern of “sub-threshold” or “greyzone” pressure designed to signal without crossing full escalation thresholds.