"We See You": UK Calls Out Russian Subsea Spying Vessel

 

Fresh off her voyage to visit the wreck site of the lost Russian military cargo ship Ursa Major, the Russian spy ship Yantar headed north to map vulnerable subsea infrastructure in British waters, UK Defense Secretary John Healey told Parliament this week. 

Healey said that the Royal Navy has been monitoring Yantar throughout her transit, and he called her presence "another example of growing Russian aggression." 

"I also wanted President [Vladimir] 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. 

Nominally a research vessel, Yantar is operated by the Russian military's secretive Main Directorate of Underwater Research (GUGI), a dedicated subsea warfare division that reports directly to the Russian ministry of defense. GUGI is known best as the operator of Russia's special mission submersibles, notably the deep-diving Losharik and host submarine Belgorod, the world's longest sub. 

Yantar is capable of hosting submersibles for subsea survey, intervention and (analysts suggest) cable tapping or sabotage. Her activities in the North Sea, North Atlantic, Baltic and Irish Sea have prompted widespread suspicions that she is part of Russia's program to map NATO subsea infrastructure. 

HMS Somerset has been tracking Yantar throughout her voyage north, and closely, Healey said. 

"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," he reported. 

Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset located and intercepted Yantar in the entrance to the English Channel, south of the traffic separation scheme at Ushant. Somerset shadowed Yantar as she navigated through waters close to France.

Healey also revealed that he had ordered a Royal Navy attack submarine to surface near Yantar the last time the Russian spy ship was in UK waters. Yantar visited the Irish Sea in November, where she was tracked by HMS Tyne. She also had a surprise visit from an Astute-class submarine, "strictly as a deterrent measure, to make clear that we had been covertly monitoring its every move," he said.  

"Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure," Healey emphasized.