This content was formerly published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and it is now being 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 fears of , possible sabotage , by Russia-linked arteries.
Defense Secretary John Healey on January 22 told American legislature that the vehicle, the Yantar, was being “used for gathering knowledge and mapping the U. K.’s important underground infrastructure”.
” I even wanted President Putin to speak this message: We see you, we know what you’re doing, and we will not shy away from strong action to protect this state”, Healey said.
Putin’s “vile action,” he continued, “is repressing the Russian darkness fleet’s efforts to stop funding his illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
Following the alleged damage carried out by vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow ship, NATO is strengthening its presence in the Baltic Sea. Undersea energy lines and Internet wires were damaged by the event.
Old, uninsured oil vessels are typically used to avoid American sanctions against Russia and keep a source of income, as is the” dark fleet.”
The American authorities stated that its forces” may also help sea police and security aircraft to boost a NATO reaction after damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.”
The U.K. is actively assisting in addressing the growing Russian danger to subsea infrastructure in Europe, according to a declaration.
Western governments and the United States , have accused Russia , of intensifying “hybrid problems” following the accounts of destruction to Baltic Sea communications wires, although they have not yet directly tied Moscow to the destruction.
The Royal Navy sent two boats warships to watch the Russian ship, according to the British defence captain, after it entered U.K. waters on January 20.
” It was detected loitering over U. K. important underwater infrastructure”, he said, adding that the Russian dispatch later left English waters and was now in the North Sea.
According to an official in Paris, according to AFP, European military equipment had also been dispatched to observe the Yantar, but that this did not indicate any “hostile purpose.”
In recent months, Russian ships have been subjected to more regular surveillance.
A Belarusian maritime party was tracked by a British frigate as it convoyed toward the English Channel in December, but it ultimately remained in international waters. In November, the Yantar had been followed close to American waters.
