British armed forces escorted a Russian aircraft carrier dubbed "the ship of shame" by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon as it passed through waters close to the English coast on its way back from bombing raids in Syria.

Images released by the British defence ministry showed RAF Typhoon jets and the Royal Navy's HMS St. Albans frigate escorting the Admiral Kuznetsov and its support vessels in the English Channel on Wednesday as they headed towards the North Sea.

"We will keep a close eye on the Admiral Kuznetsov as it skulks back to Russia," Defence Minister Michael Fallon said in a statement.

The Russian warship travelled through the North Sea to Syria last year, to help Moscow ally Assad regime troops recapture opposition-held areas of Aleppo city after four years of fighting there.

The offensive forced thousands of civilians and opposition fighters to flee the city, after years of intense bombing and clashes that ravaged swathes of Syria's former economic capital.

Fallon called the aircraft carrier "a ship of shame whose mission has only extended the suffering of the Syrian people".

"We are man-marking these vessels every step of the way around the UK as part of our steadfast commitment to keep Britain safe," he said.

Britain is deploying Typhoon jets and a frigate to shadow the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is accompanied by a Russian cruiser and salvage tug, the ministry said.

Russia's military said earlier this month that it had begun scaling down its deployment in Syria under a drawdown ordered by President Vladimir Putin on December 29.

Aircraft from the carrier hit 1,252 "terrorist" targets during a two-month mission, Russia's main commander in Syria, Andrei Kartapolov, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

The Assad regime and its allies have consistently referred to all of Assad's opponents - terrorists or otherwise - as "terrorist" since a conflict erupted in 2011.

The fall of Aleppo in December last year was the regime's biggest victory since the war began with anti-Assad protests.