Royal Navy submarine used to warn off Russian spy ship loitering over cables
The nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine surfaced close to the Yantar to let the Russian ship know it was being watched.
A Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine was used to warn off one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spy ships operating around UK waters.
The hunter-killer submarine was ordered to surface close to the Yantar after the Russian vessel was caught loitering over critical undersea cables.
Just weeks later the Yantar returned to UK waters and the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement were changed to allow warships to sail closer to the spy vessel to monitor its activities.
Defence Secretary John Healey gave details of the operations in a Commons statement.
In a direct message to Mr Putin he said: “We see you, we know what you’re doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.”
Mr Healey said the Yantar was used “for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure”.
The incident involving an Astute-class attack submarine occurred in November.
Mr Healey said the Yantar “was detected loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure” and “to deter any potential threat, I took measured steps then as part of a clear direct response to the Russian vessel”.
RAF maritime patrol aircraft, minehunter HMS Cattistock, offshore patrol vessel HMS Tyne and surveillance ship RFA Proteus were deployed “to shadow Yantar’s every movement”.
Mr Healey added: “I authorised a Royal Navy submarine, strictly as a deterrent measure, to surface close to Yantar to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move.
“The ship then left UK waters without further loitering and sailed down to the Mediterranean.”
It headed back towards the UK earlier this week and was shadowed by Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset and the Tyne.
“Yantar entered the UK exclusive economic zone about 45 miles off the British coast on Monday,” the Defence Secretary said.
“For the last two days the Royal Navy has deployed HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne to monitor the vessel every minute through our waters.
“I changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so that our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar. So far, the ship has complied with international rules of navigation.”
The vessel had since sailed into the North Sea, he told MPs.
The UK and Nato allies are increasingly concerned about the risk Russia poses to offshore cables, pipelines and other infrastructure.
P-8 Poseidon and Rivet Joint spy planes will join the Nato operation to protect undersea cabling in the Baltic Sea, while RFA Proteus has also been deployed to monitor offshore infrastructure.
The Defence Secretary said Russia was “dangerous but fundamentally weak”, as he referenced the casualties the country had suffered during the war in Ukraine and its decision to draft in troops from North Korea.
He said: “Russia remains the most pressing and immediate threat to Britain, and I want to assure the House and the British people that any threat will be met with strength and resolve.”
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the change to the Navy’s rules of engagement “sends a powerful signal to Putin that we will not be intimidated and that if his aim is to keep pushing the boundaries of malign activity in our waters, and those proximate to us, we will respond”.
Katja Bego, senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, said the incident followed “a repeated pattern of the Yantar engaging in suspicious activities in the North Sea and elsewhere” and called for governments to introduce more “redundancy” in undersea cables to reduce the impact of any damage caused by Russian interference.
She added: “It is commendable that John Healey has been so vocal in calling out this most recent Yantar incursion.
“Nato needs to speak with one voice on these increasingly more brazen hybrid activities and it is of the utmost importance that Nato countries and others bolster their response to these kinds of increasingly frequent incidents.”
