Vladimir Putin has dispatched a suspected weapons-carrying cargo vessel through the English Channel, safeguarded by a Russian military ship.

Accompanied by the warship Admiral Grigorovich, a convoy of Russian ships, including the Sparta measuring 415ft, known for previous military equipment deliveries to Syria, was spotted off the southern coast.

The Sparta, reportedly en route to Port Said in northern Egypt, entered the Channel near Dover on Thursday morning.

Among the vessels in the company of the Sparta are the sanctioned tanker General Skobelev and the Akademik Pashin, a medium-sized refueling ship, as per reports from the Telegraph.