Defence Secretary John Healey has delivered a stark warning to Vladimir Putin following a coordinated month-long operation involving over 500 British personnel tracking Russian submarines suspected of targeting critical undersea infrastructure in the Atlantic.
“We see you, we see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences,” Mr Healey declared during a Downing Street statement revealing the concluded military operation.
Royal Navy warships and RAF P-8a aircraft conducted 24/7 surveillance of a Russian Akula-class attack submarine alongside two specialist vessels from Moscow’s main directorate for deep sea research (GUGI)—units designed to survey underwater infrastructure during peacetime and sabotage it during conflict.
The Defence Secretary confirmed the Akula submarine has since retreated whilst the two GUGI vessels remain under continued monitoring in wider UK waters, with authorities maintaining “no evidence” any damage occurred to British pipelines or telecommunications cables.
Mr Healey revealed the submarines “spent time over critical infrastructure relevant to us,” prompting British forces to drop sonar buoys demonstrating constant surveillance whilst exposing what he characterised as Putin’s “covert operation.”
“We watched them, we were able to track them. We wanted to ensure that we could warn them that their covert operation had been exposed and reduce the risk that they made to attempt any action that could damage our pipelines or our cables,” he explained.
The operation involved allied cooperation across sea and air domains, with the Defence Secretary noting the submarines operated within Britain’s exclusive economic zone rather than close-shore territorial waters.
Mr Healey pointed to November’s detection of Russian spy ship Yantar as evidence of “increased Russian activity in the Atlantic, north of the UK,” arguing Putin has directed vessels to “conduct hybrid warfare activities against the UK and our allies, specifically around critical undersea infrastructure.”
Whilst expressing confidence no damage occurred, Mr Healey confirmed authorities would verify infrastructure integrity alongside allies, emphasising: “The UK has one of the most resilient undersea networks of any nation, with in-built contingencies if there are damage.”
The Defence Secretary insisted the United States remains “totally committed to NATO” despite President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post claiming the alliance “was not there when we needed them,” whilst rejecting Trump’s characterisation of British aircraft carriers as “toys.”
