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British Defense Secretary John Healy delivered a blunt warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday after a Russian spy vessel, the Yantar, was spotted skirting the edge of UK waters for the second time this year.
“We see you. We know what you’re doing. And if the Yantar heads south this week, we’re ready,” Healy said at a press conference, adding that the UK has “military options ready” if the ship changes course.
Healy said the vessel is currently just north of Scotland and accused its crew of using lasers against British Royal Air Force aircraft monitoring the ship. He called the move “particularly dangerous,” noting it was the first time the Yantar had targeted RAF aircraft in this way.
In response, Healy said he has updated the Navy’s rules of engagement, allowing British forces to track the ship more closely when it is near UK waters.
“This is the second time the ship has entered British waters,” he said, adding that the Yantar is part of a wider Russian fleet designed to threaten underwater infrastructure belonging to the UK and its allies. The program, he said, aims to build capabilities for surveillance during peacetime and sabotage during conflict.
The British minister had already issued a warning to Moscow in January, when the same vessel was spotted moving through the English Channel and into the North Sea.
*Source: AFP, Reuters
