British Defense Secretary John Healey has issued a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the British Royal Navy intercepted a "Russian spy ship" in the English Channel, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
The Russian warship "Yantar" was spotted several weeks ago passing over undersea cables in British waters, the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
"My message to President Putin is clear. We know what you are doing and we will not hesitate to take strong measures to protect" Britain, Healy stressed.
The Russian ship, currently in the North Sea, is "used to gather intelligence and map vital British underwater infrastructure", he added to British MPs.
The ship entered British waters on Monday. "Over the last two days, the Royal Navy has deployed the ships "Somerset" and "Tyne" to monitor it every minute in our waters," the minister explained.
In November, a British Royal Navy submarine surfaced near the Yantar, "to make it clear that we have been secretly monitoring its every move," he added. The ship then headed for the Mediterranean.
The UK "is playing a leading role in the fight against the growing threat" against underwater infrastructure in European seas, the country's Ministry of Defense added.
For the same reason, the British RAF will provide aircraft for a new NATO mission aimed at improving the protection of underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, where several submarine cables have been damaged in recent months. Experts and European leaders suspect that this is due to "hybrid warfare" led by Russia.
The leaders of NATO countries bordering the Baltic Sea met last week in Finland to discuss ways to improve security in the sea. The alliance's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, said the organization would deploy ships, planes and drones to the Baltic Sea in response to the incidents of damaged cables there.