Defence Minister John Healey said the covert month-long operation did not find evidence that Russian vessels had damaged undersea infrastructure. Published On 9 Apr 20269 Apr 2026British Defence Minister John Healey has said that it has tracked and deterred three Russian submarines in United Kingdom waters in the High North maritime region, which is home to key shipping routes and near crucial undersea cables.Healey told a Downing Street news conference on Thursday that the covert month-long operation involving British warships and military aircraft did not find evidence that Russian vessels had damaged the undersea infrastructure.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listHealey explained that the decision to reveal the operation was serving to “call out” Russian activity and send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.“I am making this statement to call out this Russian activity. And to President Putin, I say this: we see you, we see your activity over our cables and pipelines. And you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated, and will have serious consequences,” he said.Healey explained that armed forces had been deployed “to track and to deter any malign activity by these vessels”, adding that Putin’s purpose was “secret operations that remain undetected over our critical infrastructure”. This undated handout image release on April 9, 2026, by the UK’s Royal Navy shows the HMS Mersey, foreground, tracking Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich, far left, and Kilo-class submarine Krasnodar, second left – in distance, in UK waters at sea [AFP]“We’ve exposed those covert operations. We’ve made clear to him and his submarines that we’ve watched them every step of the way.” Advertisement According to the British Defence Ministry, London and its allies had tracked an Akula-class Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine and two specialist submarines from Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research (GUGI).Defence experts have classed GUGI among Moscow’s most secret facilities, responsibl …
