Royal Navy closely monitors Russian ‘spy ship’ after entering British waters | Royal Navy

Royal Navy closely monitors Russian ‘spy ship’ after entering British waters | Royal Navy

A Russian “spy ship” was closely monitored by the Royal Navy this week after entering British waters on Monday and crossing the English Channel at a time of heightened concern over the security of undersea cables.

Defense Secretary John Healey told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the Yantar, a Russian ship tasked with “mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure”, had crossed British waters for the second time in less than three months.

Healey accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to threaten European security by targeting underwater infrastructure carrying oil, gas, electricity and the internet. “We see you. We know what you are doing,” he declared to the deputies.

The Yantar, officially an ocean research vessel, was first spotted on Monday 70km off the British coast, well inside the UK’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). “Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship,” Healey told MPs.

It had previously crossed British waters in November, when Healey said it was “detected loitering over the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure”. It then sailed into Irish waters east of Dublin, sparking fears it was spying on internet connectors linking the UK and Ireland.

Healey said he was followed at the time by a submarine, warships and patrol aircraft. The submarine had been ordered to surface near the Yantar “to make it clear that we were secretly monitoring its every move,” he said.

This time the ship did not loiter and was followed by the frigate HMS Somerset and the patrol boat HMS Tyne, which had been allowed to move closer to better follow it, Healey said.

Cables under the Baltic Sea have been damaged three times in unclear circumstances in the past 18 months. An oil tanker pulling its anchor damaged an electricity cable linking Finland and Estonia on Christmas Day, prompting NATO allies to step up patrols in the region.

It is not clear who is responsible for the incident, which involved the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S, but Healey told MPs that “many analysts believe it was caused by a Russian ghost fleet ship.” .

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Britain and other NATO countries are concerned about threats to undersea infrastructure, which is often critical to a nation’s needs but difficult to defend. They believe that the Russian threat has intensified since its invasion of Ukraine.

The Yantar is officially an oceanographic research vessel with underwater rescue capability, but it is also part of the Russian Navy. It is operated by the country’s Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research, part of the Ministry of Defense.

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