The Royal Navy needs to protect maritime traffic in UK waters and critical undersea infrastructure. June’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR) said that it “must be prepared to deter maritime incidents similar to the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the cutting of undersea data cables in UK and international waters”.

The Kremlin is suspected of deploying the vessel to stalk the seabed, gathering intelligence that could be used in acts of sabotage.View on euronews

A Russian spy ship has entered British waters and directed lasers at military pilots, Britain’s defense secretary said Wednesday, as he warned that the country was facing a “new era of threat” from hostile actors.

MILITARY plans are being drawn up to repel a ­Russian spy ship which tried to blind RAF pilots with lasers off the coast of Britain. Tyrant Vladimir Putin was warned his Yantar surveillance vessel

To Russia, the Yantar is a oceanic research vessel - to others, including the UK, it's a spy ship, and a worry for Britain's defence chiefs. The vessel has long been suspected of secretly mapping out Britain's undersea cables, where more than 90% of our data, including billions of dollars of financial transactions, are transferred.

Defence minister Al Carns told MPs that the Yantar - part of a Russian fleet collecting data on underwater infrastructure - is a 'threat to our economics and our way of life'