Britain says Russian spy ship returned to British waters in threat from Kremlin

Britain warned on Wednesday that it faced a growing threat of aggression from Russia, saying a Russian spy ship had passed near England’s coast for the second time in three months, last incident which seemed intended to test British military capabilities.

John Healey, the British Defense Secretary, told Parliament that two Royal Navy ships had been deployed for two days to monitor the passage of the Yantar, which he described as a Russian spy ship used to gather intelligence and map Britain’s critical underwater infrastructure.

The incident is the latest in a series of incursions by Russian ships and aircraft around Britain and comes amid growing concern in Europe over threats to critical infrastructure and possible sabotage, Western intelligence services warning of the Kremlin’s intention to punish Europe for its support of Ukraine. Last year, when the Yantar was first detected in British waters, a British submarine was monitoring it nearby, the Defense Secretary revealed on Wednesday.

While authorities have linked Russian intelligence services to acts of vandalism, arson and assaults across Europe in recent years, it is threats at sea that have generated the most anxiety and sparked the most daring answers. Last week, NATO announced it was deploying warships, patrol aircraft and drones to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea after several submarine cables were cut, apparently by vessels dragging their anchors on the seabed.

Suspicion now falls on ships linked to Russia and China, with European Union ships surrounding a Chinese-flagged ship for weeks and Finland seizing an oil tanker that experts and officials say could be part of Russian efforts to avoid Western sanctions.

Russian military ships have been carrying out missions near Britain and elsewhere for years. But Mr Healey gave an unusual amount of detail on Wednesday about the usually murky world of military surveillance, highlighting growing concern about Russian activity, particularly around vital undersea cables linking Britain to the Continental Europe.