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Britain’s defence minister has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that “we will not shy away from robust action” after telling parliament that a Russian spy vessel had been operating in UK waters for the second time since November.
John Healey said the Russian spy ship, Yantar, had been tracked in the English Channel by a warship after loitering over critical undersea infrastructure. A Royal Navy submarine surfaced near the Yantar to warn that its every move had been monitored, he said.
“Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure,” Healey told lawmakers in 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 robust action to protect Britain.”
“We will continue to call out the malign activity that Putin directs, cracking down on the Russian 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 seen off the UK coast in November, when it had then sailed for the Mediterranean, returning to the Channel this week. As well as being warned by the Royal Navy submarine this week, it had been flanked by the frigate HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne, a patrol vessel.
Nato allies have stepped up surveillance of critical marine infrastructure to protect it against sabotage attempts after several power pipelines and data cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged recently.
Three ships have damaged underwater Baltic cables and pipelines in the past 15 months, all by dragging their anchors along the seabed.
Finland used a helicopter last month to board and seize the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-registered tanker that was suspected of sabotage as it transported oil from Russia to Egypt.
The UK has not had to take similar action, although Healey said he had relaxed the rules of naval engagement so that British warships could now get closer to suspicious vessels to inspect what they are doing.
“Like the surfacing of the submarine [this is] specifically to deter and to discourage the sort of activity that we simply don’t want to see in our waters,” Healey said.
He added that should there be any need to interdict a suspicious vessel the UK would “certainly be ready to take action”.
The increased western surveillance of suspicious Russian activity is the latest in a series of Nato-sponsored actions designed to bolster the military alliance following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and subsequent acts of sabotage against multiple countries.
Last week, Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary-general announced a new mission called Baltic Sentry to monitor underwater infrastructure. Consisting of drones, submarines, ship and aircraft, the UK has also activated an AI-assisted computer system to help monitor key areas of interest.
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