LONDON — The UK’s Defence Secretary John Healey has issued a stark warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin, declaring that the UK is intensifying its hunt for Russian submarines operating near British and NATO waters. He said that Moscow’s submarine activity has surged about 30 percent, placing the UK in an elevated state of maritime alert.
Healey told the House of Commons and the media: “We are watching you, we are hunting your submarines”, underlining that British maritime patrol aircraft and naval assets are actively tracking and challenging Russian undersea movements. He pointed to recent operations by the Royal Air Force’s Poseidon P-8A patrol aircraft and the Royal Navy’s submarine forces shadowing Russian vessels as evidence of this build-up.
The warning comes amid multiple reports of increased Russian naval and espionage activity in the North Atlantic and around UK undersea infrastructure. For example, the Russian spy-ship Yantar was tracked close to critical British underwater cables, prompting the UK to dispatch submarines and surface vessels in deterrent response.
In tandem, the UK and Germany announced expanded joint operations from RAF Lossiemouth, reinforcing anti-submarine cooperation and signalling a unified Western posture against Moscow’s maritime challenge.
