Britain says it has exposed a covert operation involving Russian submarines secretly conducting “nefarious activity” in recent weeks over UK pipelines and crucial subsea cables in the North Atlantic.
John Healey, Britain’s defence secretary, told a media briefing in Downing Street that Russia had recently sailed an attack submarine into international waters in the area as a “distraction” while its submarines secretly hovered over cables nearer to British territorial waters.
He said Britain, in conjunction with Norway, had deployed aircraft including P8 submarine hunters, ships and helicopters to monitor the vessels, while also dropping sonar buoys into the water to let the Russians know they were being watched.
“We see you,” said Healey, directly addressing Russia’s president Vladimir Putin from the lectern in the media briefing room at Number 9 Downing Street. “Your covert operation has failed.”
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The Russian attack vessel and the submarines, known as Gugi submarines, were tracked over the course of a month and have now left the area and are sailing back towards Russia, he said.
“They were seen off and are heading north back to their base. We’ve watched them every step of the way.”
Gugi is the name given to Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research, the military programme that targets deep sea cables.
Healey accused Russia of taking advantage of the war in the Middle East, which has distracted members of the US-led Nato military alliance, to launch the operation targeting UK undersea cables, which facilitate communications including the internet.
“While all eyes are on the Middle East, Russia still poses a threat [to Britain],” he said. “The primary purpose of this briefing is to demonstrate to him [Putin] that we are not distracted.”
Healey said there was no evidence any damage had been caused to the undersea infrastructure during the Russian operation. Russian vessels have also been observed near Irish undersea cables in recent years. The British and Irish governments have pledged to co-operate on protecting subsea infrastructure.
The British operation comes after the US recently criticised the UK’s naval capabilities. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth mocked Britain’s “big bad Royal Navy” during the Iran war, as the US-UK alliance came under strain over Britain’s refusal to help in the war in the Middle East, which it believes is illegal.
Healey acknowledged that Britain’s navy had been “hollowed out” over recent decades. He said the Labour government had boosted military spending by the most since the Cold War, although a long-awaited defence investment plan is currently delayed.
Britain said there has been a 30 per cent increase in Russian incursions “threatening UK waters”. Britain has spent an extra £100 million on its P8 submarine hunter aircraft, which also scan Irish waters for signs of Russian undersea vessels.
