Britain said Thursday it tracked and intercepted three Russian submarines on a month-long “covert operation” in British waters in the North Atlantic near vital undersea cables and pipelines.
Revealing details of a joint mission with Norway and other unnamed partners, British Defense Secretary John Healey said there was no evidence that Russian ships had damaged undersea infrastructure.
The British minister said he was disclosing the operation, which involved British warships and military aircraft, “to call this a Russian operation” and to send the Russian President. Vladimir Putin the message.
“We see your activity on our cables and our pipes and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences,” he told a Downing Street news conference.
Healey said he had sent of England armed forces “to monitor and prevent any malicious activities of these ships”, adding Putin’s purpose was “covert operations that have not yet been discovered on our critical infrastructure”.
“We’ve exposed those secret operations. We’ve made it clear to him and his submarines that we’ve been watching them every step of the way.”
