Royal Navy warship HMS Somerset tracks Russian spy ship off UK coast

A Plymouth Royal Navy warship has been tracking one of Vladimir Putin’s spy ships operating around UK waters. It comes weeks after Russian vessel Yantar was caught loitering over critical undersea cables.

Yantar left UK waters for the Mediterranean in November but returned this week. The Ministry of Defence said it was sailing through the Channel, where it was flanked by Devonport-based HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne, a Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel based in Portsmouth.

Defence Secretary John Healey gave details about the activities of the Yantar to MPs on Wednesday (January 22), saying the Russians used it "for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure".

Mr Healey warned Mr Putin: "We see you, we know what you are doing and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country".

He told the Commons: "In November, the ship was also closely watched and detected loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure. To deter any potential threat, I took measured steps.

“I can confirm to the House that I authorised a Royal Navy submarine, strictly as a deterrent measure, to surface close to the Yantar to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move. The ship then left UK waters without further loitering and sailed down to the Mediterranean.”

The submarine is understood to have been one of the UK’s Astute-class nuclear-powered attack boats.

On the Yantar’s return to the waters around the UK on Monday, Mr Healey changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement to allow shadowing vessels to get closer.

The Defence Secretary said: “The foreign ship Yantar is currently in the North Sea having passed through British waters. Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.

“Yantar entered the UK exclusive economic zone about 45 miles off the British coast on Monday. For the last two days the Royal Navy has deployed HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne to monitor the vessel every minute through our waters.

“I changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so that our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar. So far, the ship has complied with international rules of navigation."

The MOD says the UK is playing a leading role in countering a growing Russian threat to offshore infrastructure in European seas. It provide P-8 Poseidon and Rivet Joint maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft for the Baltic Sentry activity, which was announced following damage to the Estlink2 undersea cable between Estonia and Finland.

The UK has also been ramping up its focus on protecting offshore infrastructure. A new AI-assisted computer system was activated for the first time last month to monitor key areas of interest and assess the risk to infrastructure posed by different ships.

When the Nordic Warden system detects a potential threat, it generates an alert which can be sent to Joint Expeditionary Force partners or to NATO.

Nordic Warden is also monitoring vessels known to be part of Putin’s shadow fleet of ships used to attempt to bypass international sanctions – and help fund Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine – by moving Russian oil and gas to potential buyers.

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