UK steps up efforts to head off Russian interference with critical undersea infrastructure

The UK’s Royal Navy (RN) has been stepping up its efforts to counter suspected Russian interference with the critical undersea infrastructure around the British Isles, with UK Defence Secretary John Healey acknowledging that he has changed the RN’s rules of engagement to facilitate a more robust response.

In a statement to the UK House of Commons on 22 January 2025, Healey noted that the Russian ship Yantar entered the UK Exclusive Economic Zone about 45 nautical miles off the British coast on 20 January and had been monitored by the RN before moving into the North Sea.

“Let me be clear: this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure,” said Healey. “For the last two days the Royal Navy has deployed HMS Somerset [a Type 23 frigate] and HMS Tyne [a River-class offshore patrol vessel] to monitor the vessel every minute through our waters. And I changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so that our warships can get closer and better track the Yantar,” he added.

Healey noted, however, that this was the second time that Yantar had entered British waters in recent months.

“In November the ship was also closely watched and detected loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure,” said Healey, adding, “To deter any potential threat I took measured steps then as part of a clear and direct response to the Russian vessel. RAF maritime patrol aircraft, alongside HMS Cattistock [a Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessel], HMS Tyne and RFA Proteus [a survey and surveillance ship], were deployed to shadow Yantar’s every movement.

“Today,” Healey continued, “I also want to confirm to the House that I authorised a Royal Navy submarine – strictly as a deterrent measure – to surface close to 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.”

Healey stated that he wanted Russian President Vladimir Putin “to hear this message: we see you; we know what you are doing; and we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country. And with our NATO allies we are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near the UK or near NATO territory.”

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 6 January 2025 that the UK-led multinational Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) had activated an advanced reaction system to track potential threats to undersea infrastructure and monitor Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of sanctions-busting tankers in response to reported damage to a major undersea cable in the Baltic Sea.

The operation, activated around the start of the year and named ‘Nordic Warden’, harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess data from a range of sources, including the Automatic Identification System (AIS) that ships use to broadcast their position, to calculate the risk posed by each vessel entering areas of interest.

The activation of ‘Nordic Warden’ came in response to reported damage caused on 25 December 2024 to the Estlink2 cable, which carries electricity from Finland to Estonia. The Finnish authorities suggested at the time that the damage may have been caused by the tanker Eagle S, which forms part of Russia’s shadow fleet of vessels it uses to attempt to bypass international sanctions.

Twenty-two areas of interest – including parts of the English Channel, North Sea, Kattegat and Baltic Sea – are currently being monitored from the JEF’s operational headquarters in Northwood, just outside London, where personnel from all JEF nations work side by side.

The high-readiness and adaptable 10-nation JEF includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, with the latter as the framework nation.