The Yantar has been repeatedly tracked across European waters and is believed to be part of a Russian mission to map undersea cables.
The British navy tracked a Russian spy ship in the English Channel this week, the UK’s defence secretary has said, amid concerns about the sabotage of undersea cables.
Defence Secretary John Healey told parliament on Tuesday that the Yantar vessel was used for “gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure”.
“Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship,” Healey told MPs.
The ship entered the UK’s waters on Monday — the second time it had done so in three months. Two Royal Navy ships were deployed to track the vessel, which they monitored until it entered Dutch waters, according to Healey.
The incident was “another example of growing Russian aggression”, according to Healey, who said Moscow was trying to threaten Europe by targeting undersea cables and infrastructure used for oil, gas, electricity and the internet.
In a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Healey said: “We see you. We know what you are doing. And we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about Healey’s comments during a press briefing on Thursday, but said he was “not really familiar with the subject” and did not provide any further information.
The Yantar had previously been caught in British waters in November when it was detected loitering over undersea cables, according to Healey. He said it had been monitored at the time by warships, patrol aircraft and a Royal Navy submarine.
There are heightened concerns about the presence of Russian ships in European waters after damage to several cables under the Baltic Sea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In the latest such incident, an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged in December. Finnish police are investigating whether a Russian ship was involved and Healey told British MPs that “many analysts believe this was caused by a vessel in Russia’s shadow fleet”.
Russia last week accused NATO and the West of making “evidence-free” allegations against Moscow over the incidents in a bid to limit seaborne Russian oil exports.
NATO this month announced the launch of a new mission, called “Baltic Sentry”, to increase the surveillance of ships in the Baltic Sea and protect undersea cables. The military alliance’s chief Mark Rutte did not point the finger at Russia for the incidents of damage, but said that NATO would ramp up its monitoring of Moscow’s shadow fleet.
