Russian spy ship found ‘gathering intelligence’ in UK waters

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Britain’s Defense Secretary warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that “we will not shy away from taking strong action” after telling parliament that a Russian spy ship was operating in UK waters for the second time since November.

John Healey says the Russian spy ship, Yantar, was searched in the English Channel by a warship after wandering over heavy marine structures. A Royal Navy a submarine came close to Yantar to warn that its every move was being watched, he said.

“Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used to gather intelligence and map the UK’s underwater infrastructure,” Healey told the House of Commons on Wednesday.

“My message to President Putin is clear,” he said. “We know what you are doing and we will not shy away from taking strong action to protect Britain.

“We will continue to call out the brutal operation that Putin is ordering, to destroy Russia’s shadow fleet,” Healey added.

Yantar, which means amber in Russian, had now left the Strait of Dover and was in Dutch waters, Healey said.

It was spotted off the UK coast in November, having sailed to the Mediterranean, returning to the Channel this week. And alerted by a Royal Navy ship this week, it was flanked by the frigate HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne, a patrol vessel.

Nato countries have stepped up surveillance of critical maritime infrastructure to protect them against sabotage attempts after several power lines and data cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged recently.

Three ships have damaged submarine cables and pipelines in the Baltic in the past 15 months, all by dragging anchors from the seabed.

Finland used a helicopter last month to board and seize the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-registered vessel suspected of being damaged while transporting oil from Russia to Egypt.

The UK does not have to take similar action, although Healey said he has relaxed the rules of naval action so that British warships can now get close to suspicious vessels to check what they are doing. .

“Like the rise of the submarine (this) specifically deters and discourages the kind of activity we don’t want to see in our waters,” Healey said.

He added that if there was a need to intercept a suspicious vessel the UK “will be ready to act”.

The West’s increasingly suspicious Russian operations are the latest in a series of Nato-backed actions designed to strengthen the military alliance after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and actions that followed by damages against many countries.

Last week, Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO announced a new mission called Baltic Sentry to monitor underwater operations. Including drones, submarines, ships and aircraft, the UK has also installed an AI-assisted computer system to help monitor key areas of interest.

Cartographer by Steven Bernard