UK Issues Warning to Putin: “We Are Watching You” After Vessel Passes Through British Waters

This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

Britain has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that “We know what you’re doing” after the Royal Navy tracked what it called a “Russian spy ship” traveling through U.K. waters amid rising concerns of potential sabotage by Russia-linked vessels.

Defense Secretary John Healey on January 22 told British parliament that the vessel, the Yantar, was being “used for gathering intelligence and mapping the U.K.’s critical underwater infrastructure.”

“I also wanted President Putin to hear this message: We see you, we know what you’re doing, and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country,” Healey said.

“We will continue to call out the malign activity that Putin directs, cracking down on the Russian shadow fleet to prevent funding for his illegal invasion of Ukraine,” he added.

The incident comes as NATO is bolstering its presence in the Baltic Sea after undersea power lines and Internet cables were damaged by suspected sabotage believed to be carried out by vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.

The “shadow fleet” is a reference to old, uninsured oil vessels typically used to bypass Western sanctions on Russia and maintain a source of revenue.

The British government said it forces “will also contribute maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft to bolster a NATO response after damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.”

“The U.K. is playing a leading role in countering the growing Russian threat to offshore infrastructure in European seas,” it added in a statement.

European governments and the United States have accused Russia of intensifying “hybrid attacks” following the reports of damage to Baltic Sea communications cables, although they have not yet directly tied Moscow to the damage.

The British defense chief said the Russian craft entered U.K. waters on January 20, prompting the Royal Navy to send two ships vessels to monitor it.

“It was detected loitering over U.K. critical undersea infrastructure,” he said, adding that the Russian ship later left British waters and was now in the North Sea.

AFP quoted an official in Paris as saying French military assets had also been dispatched to observe the Yantar but that it did not indicate any “hostile intent.”

The monitoring of Russian ships has become more frequent in recent months.

In December, a British frigate tracked a Russian naval group as it convoyed toward the English Channel, but it eventually remained in international waters. The Yantar also had been tracked near British waters in November.