Britain Says Russian Spy Ship Is Back In UK Waters In Sign Of Kremlin Threat

Britain warned on Wednesday that it was facing an attack by Russia, saying that a Russian spy ship had passed the English coast for the second time in three months, in the latest incident that appeared to be designed to test Britain’s military capabilities.

John Healey, the British defense secretary, told Parliament that two Royal Navy ships had been deployed for two days to monitor the passage of the Yantar, which he described as a Russian spy ship used to gather intelligence and map vital British underwater infrastructure.

The incident is the latest in a series of incursions of Russian ships and aircraft around Britain and comes amid growing concern in Europe about threats to critical infrastructure and possible destruction, with Western intelligence warning of the Kremlin’s intention to punish Europe for supporting Ukraine. Last year, when the Yantar was first detected in British waters, a nearby British submarine was on alert, the defense secretary revealed on Wednesday.

While authorities have linked Russian intelligence services to vandalism, arson and attacks across Europe in recent years, threats at sea have caused greater concern and prompted bolder responses. Last week, NATO announced that it would send warships, surveillance planes and drones to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea after several submarine cables were cut, apparently by ships dragging anchors on the seabed.

Suspicion has turned on vessels linked to Russia and China, as European Union vessels have surrounded a Chinese-flagged vessel for weeks and Finland seized an oil tanker that experts and officials say could be part of Russia’s efforts to avoid Western sanctions.

Russian naval vessels have been conducting operations near Britain and elsewhere for years. But Mr. Healey on Wednesday provided unusual details about the country’s often shadowy military surveillance, underscoring growing concerns about Russian activity, particularly about key underwater cables linking Britain to mainland Europe.

“Russia remains the most pressing and immediate threat to Britain,” Mr. Healey on Wednesday, adding that he wanted to send a message to the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin. “‘We see you. We know what you are doing. And we will not shy away from taking drastic measures to protect this country,’” he said.

Mr. Healey also told lawmakers that he had changed the navy’s rules of engagement to allow two British ships to approach and monitor the movements of the Yantar, which has since moved into Dutch waters.

Last November, the Yantar was spotted hovering over sensitive British undersea infrastructure, Mr Healey said, adding that at the time he had authorized a Royal Navy submarine to pass close to the Yantar to show it was under surveillance.

At the time, the British said, the Yantar was escorted by the frigate, Admiral Golovko, and the supporting tank, Vyazma, before the ships left for the Mediterranean.

The Yantar, which has been in service for about a decade, is a state-of-the-art spy ship, developed by Russia’s Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research specifically to hunt for important underwater cables, said Justin Crump, the private intelligence company’s chief executive. , Sibylline, who has been guarding the ship for years. The ship is equipped with two independent submarines that can be highly active and undetected, he said.

Although Yantar can engage in vandalism, Mr. Crump said, it is very likely that the ship will be used to locate and tap intelligence gathering cables, and possibly map their locations for future use.

“They have worked a lot of time and money to develop these ships, which have a lot of amazing capabilities in this area,” he said. “And in fact, by breaking the pipes or cables, they saw that they could pull the anchor into the sea.”

Although intelligence agencies and experts say underwater cutting cables are tapping into what is understood to be the Kremlin’s secret playbook, it has been difficult to uncover evidence linking Russia to the latest episodes. The Kremlin has denied involvement in the sabotage.

On Wednesday, Finnish authorities announced that an initial investigation into the disconnection of several key underwater cables last month was nearing completion, but said it was too early to say whether any country was following suit. Investigators concluded that the seized oil tanker, Eagle S, which had left a Russian port shortly before the cables were cut, dragged its anchor 100 kilometers across the sea, an act experts say was not an accident. .

Shipping experts have identified the Eagle S as belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a fleet of aging tankers used by Moscow to smuggle crude oil around the world to fuel its war machine in Ukraine. The tanker and its crew are still in custody in Finland.

Russia has long shown interest in the West’s network of undersea cables, experts say. In the past few years, Russian naval and merchant ships have spent time off the coast of Ireland, where a series of undersea cables connect Europe and North America.

“What we don’t know is why they’re doing it,” said Elisabeth Braw, an executive at the Atlantic Council who researches what’s happening in the Russian seas.

“Are they just showing that we can sit on submarine cables as much as we like and there’s nothing you can do about it?” he asked. “Are they doing research on future actions that they might like to do again or are they doing some kind of controversial action?

There is little countries can do about it, says Ms. Braw, because international maritime law does not prevent Russian ships from operating in these areas.

Alistair Carmichael, a British lawyer representing the islands of Orkney and Shetland, said that “Yantar’s activities may be expanding.” But he added that he had warned for almost two years about Russian ships operating in the Shetland Islands, north of mainland Scotland.

“This is a huge risk for the whole of the United Kingdom but it is particularly dangerous for our island communities who rely on cables for digital and power connections,” he told Parliament.

Britain has been one of the most vocal supporters of Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, and tensions between London and Moscow escalated last year when Ukraine fired British Storm Shadow missiles into the Kursk region.

Amid tensions last October, Ken McCallum, head of MI5, Britain’s domestic security agency, said Russian intelligence was on a mission to “create trouble on the streets of Britain and Europe.” He accused Russia’s military intelligence of “dangerous acts carried out with increasing recklessness,” including cases of “arson, vandalism and so on.”

In April, British prosecutors charged five men with working for Russia to burn down a Ukrainian-linked business in Britain. And last fall, officials said fires at shipyards in Britain and Germany were caused by incendiary devices possibly planted by Russian workers.

Britain has recently reported Russia’s most blatant military actions. Last September, it said British Typhoon jets scrambled to intercept two Russian Bear-F fighter jets operating near British airspace. It also said that the British Navy had seized four Russian vessels, including a Kilo-class submarine traversing the English Channel and the North Sea.

Johanna Lemola contributed reporting from Helsinki.