The defence secretary said a Russian spy ship, which has been operating on the edge of UK waters, had aimed lasers at the pilots of RAF surveillance aircraft who were monitoring its activities, as ITV News’ Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen reports
A Russian spy ship named Yantar is currently on the edge of UK waters, the defence secretary has warned.
During a speech on Wednesday, John Healey said the ship is currently north of Scotland, having entered the UK’s waters in the last few weeks.
Healey said the vessel had been firing lasers at British pilots sent to monitor it, and confirmed this is the second time this year the ship has been deployed to British seas.
The defence secretary warned Vladimir Putin: “We see you, we know what you’re doing, and if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready.”
He also said the ship “is part of a Russian fleet designed to put and hold our undersea infrastructure and those of our allies at risk”.“It isn’t just a naval operation. It’s part of a Russian programme driven by what they call the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, or GUGI, and this is designed to have capabilities which can undertake surveillance in peacetime and sabotage in conflict.”
In January, it emerged that the Yantar was caught lurking over undersea cables and was warned off by a Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine.
The UK and Nato allies are increasingly concerned about the risk Moscow poses to offshore cables, pipelines and other infrastructure critical to internet connectivity.
Attacks on undersea cables could cause “catastrophic disruption” to the financial and communications systems Britons rely on, the National Security Strategy Committee warned in a September report.
Healey’s warning came as part of a speech on the government’s spending plans, in which Healey said: “We are in a new era of threat, our world is changing, it is less predictable, more dangerous.”
