British Defense Minister John Healey warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after a “Russian spy ship” was spotted in the English Channel by the Royal Navy on Monday.
The Russian military ship Yantar had already been detected a few weeks ago above submarine cables in British waters, explains the Ministry of Defense in a press release. “My message to President Putin is clear. We know what you are doing, and we will not hesitate to take strong action to protect the UK,” said John Healey.
The Russian ship, which is now in the North Sea, is “used to gather intelligence and map the United Kingdom’s essential underwater infrastructure”, he told MPs. It entered British waters on Monday. “Over the past two days, the Royal Navy has deployed the ships HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne to monitor it every minute in our waters,” the minister explained.
In November, a Royal Navy submarine surfaced near Yantar, “to make it clear that we had been secretly monitoring its every movement,” he added. It then headed towards the Mediterranean, according to John Healey.
The United Kingdom “is playing a leading role in tackling the growing threat that Russia poses to offshore infrastructure in European seas,” the British Ministry of Defense said. The Royal Air Force will thus provide aircraft to a new NATO deployment intended to strengthen the protection of offshore infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
-Several underwater telecommunications and power cables have been damaged in recent months in the Baltic Sea. European leaders and experts suspect acts of “hybrid warfare” orchestrated by Russia.
Leaders of NATO countries bordering this vast maritime space met last week in Finland to discuss ways to increase security there.
NATO will deploy ships, planes and drones in the Baltic Sea in response to this damage to submarine cables, announced its Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
