Fallon called it a "ship of shame" and said that UK will be "man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of its steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe."
Also on Wednesday, the Russian Embassy in Britain stated via Twitter that the "UK reported to spend £1.4 mln on escorting Admiral Kuznetsov. Russian Navy always willing to oblige."
Russia’s Defense Ministry was quick to respond by saying that UK defense officials were putting on a show by escorting the Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, while pointing at their own issues in the Royal Navy, such as the infamous Trident situation.
"The aim of such statements and of staging a show by escorting our ships, is to distract the British taxpayers from the real state which the Royal Navy is in," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
"First, the Russian military fleet doesn’t need senseless escort services – they know their navigation channel and course," he added.
"Second, we would recommend that [Defense Secretary Michael] Fallon pay more attention to the British Navy, all the more because there is every indication to believe he should do so," Konashenkov concluded.
He said that the UK Navy is not currently at its best.
"It explains all the hysterics of the British defense secretary. They find nothing better that to malign the successes of the Russian Armed Forces demonstrated in Syria poking fun at Russia's aircraft carrier group, among others, and launching fakes about Admiral Kuznetsov that it is outdated and poses some kind of a threat to them," Ermakov told Sputnik.
He also noted that regardless of criticism, the group fulfilled its combat objectives, which is of course the most important fact.
"Hence our colleagues from NATO are so nervous about the Russian success, nervous that the Russian fleet has not vanished anywhere but continues to function and solve practical tasks," he said.
Besides, the defense analyst added, it is a very serious naval unit and from the logistical point of view, Russia has proved absolutely capable of redeploying the unit from its Northern Fleet base to a completely different region and successfully accomplish all of its combat tasks there.
In a separate comment on the same very issue, Russian defense analyst, retired Colonel Alexander Zhilin, a military expert who heads the Center for the Study of Applied Problems of National Security told Radio Sputnik that such comments are made out of "military-political impotence," and called them unacceptable.
"When a person in the rank of defense secretary allows himself to voice dirty remarks towards his colleagues, it needs no comment as there is a certain military brotherhood in the world and rules of conduct among the military of the world," he told Sputnik.
"However it is only too clear why he has been saying it: out of military-political impotence. For many years, Britain has been unilaterally playing the master in that region where Russia has now set up two military bases, taken under its control the Suez Canal, Black Sea straits and the Mediterranean which they regarded as the waters for its nuclear strike launch pad on Russia," he explained.
Commenting on the escort of the Russian ships, Zhilin said that it is nothing but a PR exercise.
"The escort of the Russia ships is nothing but PR. If you say that the Russian group is a "shame" then what are all these hysterics about?" he questioned.
The defense analyst then said that it means nothing to Russia and that if the UK military wants to go on a joy-ride then let them go ahead.
Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!
