Russian submarine operation over Britain’s undersea cables revealed as UK warns Putin ‘we see you’
Russia has been carrying out a covert operation targeting key energy and data cables in British waters for more than a month, the Defense Secretary said today.
John Healey said that a nuclear-powered attack submarine and two spy submarines were detected in the North Atlantic, and a warship and aircraft were deployed in response.
Sonar buoys that track underwater movements by collecting acoustic signals were released into the water. To deter Russians from targeting cables carrying large amounts of valuable data.
Addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Healey said: ‘We see your activities on our cables and pipelines and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will lead to serious consequences.’
The Defense Secretary told a press conference that allies including the UK and Norway were responding to ‘increasing Russian activities’ in the Atlantic while the world was preoccupied with the Middle East crisis.
This included a Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine and two specialist submarines from the Russian Ministry of Defense’s deep-sea research program known as GUGI (Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research).
In response, Britain deployed 500 personnel aboard a warship and Royal Air Force P8 aircraft, which flew for more than 450 hours. The Russian submarines eventually withdrew.
John Healey reveals ‘secret’ Russian operation at press conference at 9 Downing Street
A Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine in waters near Norway in 2022
Mr Healey said: ‘I can confirm that in response to the Russian submarines I deployed our armed forces to track and deter any malicious activity by these ships.
‘Royal Navy warship and Royal Air Force P8 aircraft provided 24/7 monitoring of Russian submarines alongside allies.
‘The Akula submarine was then towed home with close monitoring throughout and we continued to monitor the two GUGI submarines in and around wider UK waters.
‘Our armed forces left them in no doubt that they were being watched, that their movements were not covert as President Putin planned, and that their attempted covert operations were exposed.
‘These GUGI submarines have now left UK waters and returned north.’
He said the month-long operation has now been completed.
The senior minister said the attack submarine served as a possible decoy to divert our attention from the Gugi submarines as they were ‘wasting time on critical infrastructure relevant to us and our allies in the North Atlantic’.
He continued: ‘As we were monitoring them, we wanted to warn them that their covert operations had been exposed and reduce the risk of them attempting any action that could damage our pipelines or cables.
‘And I’m sure we have no evidence of any damage, but our allies were confident it was now verifiable.’
Putin was photographed today handing Russia’s highest medal to 23-year-old soldier Alexei Asylkhanov
Mr Healey was asked why Britain was allowing Russian-flagged ships to pass through the Channel despite announcing that British armed forces could begin seizing shadow fleet tankers in British waters.
“Moscow still poses a threat and we will naturally continue to do what we do, which is to ensure that we can escort any Russian warship in our waters and in the event of that operation we will be able to monitor and disclose any potentially malicious activity and uncover any covert operations that Putin wants to organize that could threaten our vital interests,” the Minister of Defense said.
John Healey stated that it was not in the UK’s national interest to deploy all of the UK’s military assets and personnel to the Middle East, warning that “the greatest threats are often unseen and silent”.
The Defense Secretary said: “When a crisis erupts noisily and dangerously, as in the Middle East, I understand people question why all of the UK’s military assets and personnel are not deployed to deal with that crisis, but this is not in the UK’s national interest.
“The greatest threats are often invisible and silent, and as demands on defense increase, we must use our resources to best effect.”
Vladimir Putin said “I think he would like us to be distracted and my aim today is to show him publicly that we are not doing that, that we are keeping an eye on him, that we know that he and Russia pose the primary threat to the security of the United Kingdom and NATO.” he added.
He said Russia was likely sharing intelligence and training Iranian forces in drone tactics, and that Moscow’s attacks on Ukraine were “mirrored” by many of the ways Iran has attacked Middle Eastern countries.
