A Russian spy ship has been found in UK waters

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Britain’s defense secretary has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin “we will not back down from strong action” after telling parliament that a Russian spy ship had been operating in British waters for the second time since November.

John Healey says a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, has been tracked by a warship in the English Channel oscillating around critical undersea infrastructure. A Royal Navy He said the submarine surfaced near Yantar to warn him that his every move was being watched.

“Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for surveillance and intelligence on the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure,” Haley told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

“My message to President Putin is clear. We know what you are doing and we will not back down from taking strong action to protect Britain.”

Haley added: “We continue to call out the dangerous activity that Putin is leading, diverting Russian shadow vessels.”

Yantar, which means amber in Russian, was now out of the Dover Sea and in Dutch waters, Healey said.

It was last seen off the coast of the United Kingdom in November, then sailed to the Mediterranean Sea when it returned to the Channel this week. Also alerted by a Royal Navy submarine this week, the frigate was flanked by HMS Somerset and patrol vessel HMS Tyne.

After the recent damage to several power transmission lines and data cables in the Baltic Sea, NATO allies have stepped up surveillance to protect critical maritime infrastructure from sabotage attempts.

In the past 15 months, three ships have damaged underwater Baltic cables and pipelines.

Last month, Finland used a helicopter to seize a Cook Islands-registered oil tanker, the Eagle S, which was transporting oil from Russia to Egypt.

Although Healey said the navy had relaxed its rules so that British warships could now approach suspicious vessels to investigate what they were doing, Britain did not have to do the same.

“Like a submarine deck,[this]is specifically designed to deter and discourage the kind of activity we don’t want to see on our waters,” Healy said.

He added that Britain would “stand ready to take action” if it needed to intercept a suspicious vessel.

Following Russia’s 2022 all-out invasion of Ukraine, Western suspicion of Russia’s activities has increased with a series of NATO-backed moves to strengthen its military alliance and subsequent attacks on several countries.

Last week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the launch of a new mission to monitor underwater infrastructure called Baltic Sentry. The UK has launched an AI-powered computer system to help it track key areas of interest, including drones, submarines, ships and aircraft.