The British military recently found spy sensors in the sea surrounding Great Britain, which they believe Russia installed to track UK’s nuclear submarines.
The Times reports that the discovery, which follows months of communication with military officials and former defense ministers about how Russia could use its maritime capabilities to prepare sabotage against Britain, is the result of several months of discussions with military officials and former defense ministers.
Recently, the British military discovered sensors at sea that they believe to be Russian spy devices. Waves washed some of them loose from their mounts and ashore, where the British military discovered them. Another number was found with the help of the navy. For national security, the journalists didn’t reveal the devices’ locations or other details.
The military believes that the sensors were installed by the Russians to collect information about British nuclear submarines. One of them is constantly at sea as part of deterrence measures.
The media outlet also explains the threat Russia can pose. The publication also discusses Russia’s submarine capabilities, which have been developed since the Cold War, and its exceptional submarine warfare and espionage capabilities, which may exceed those of the UK and other NATO countries.
It is reported that even before the attack on Ukraine, the Kremlin began preparing for a potential war with NATO, and this strategy included oversight and preparation for sabotage against underwater infrastructure.
British Navy interlocutors say the Nord Stream explosion in fall 2022 may have been the first such act, and its “military precision” is like Russian hybrid operations. They also think the Baltic Sea’s “anchor incidents” with cables were not accidental.
“There should be no doubt—there is already a war in the Atlantic…. We are seeing unprecedented levels of Russian activity,” said one of the high-ranking British military sources.
According to several interlocutors, there was compelling intelligence suggesting that by February 2022, Russian oligarchs’ yachts might have been involved in espionage activities in the waters surrounding Great Britain. In particular, some of them had all the technical means to install or retrieve underwater spy equipment.
According to one of the former ministers, the military was not “blind” to these threats, and, for example, in 2018, when a Russian oligarch’s yacht suddenly anchored next to the British warship HMS Albion in Cyprus, they suspected an attempted espionage and quickly left the port.
The article notes that the area of potential threat for the UK from Russian sabotage is offshore wind farms, which currently provide a fifth of its electricity supply—electricity is delivered to land via submarine cables. There are also risks to subsea oil and gas pipelines, in particular those that supply energy from Norway, which could be subject to sabotage similar to that against Nord Stream.
The 60 communication cables connecting the United Kingdom to different parts of the world are also potentially “easy prey,” and their locations are not classified. However, sources say that operators are aware of these risks and have prepared alternatives.
The British military’s primary concern is that the Russians could locate and damage the military communications cables.
