The Times: Russian spy sensors found in UK waters

The UK has discovered sensors that serve espionage purposes that monitored submarines, the London-based The Times reports. 

They had either washed ashore or were found underwater by the British Navy. 

Sources say that these devices were deployed by Russia to gather intelligence on British nuclear submarines. The exact locations of the discoveries are being kept confidential for national security reasons.

One British vessel is constantly on combat duty at sea as part of the UK’s “deterrence measures,” a nuclear deterrence policy that maintains military readiness to prevent any potential aggression.

Russia has continued to enhance its submarine capabilities even after the Cold War. The Kremlin possesses unique tools for underwater warfare and espionage, some of which may surpass those of the UK and other NATO countries.

“There should be no doubt, there is a war raging in the Atlantic… We are seeing phenomenal amounts of Russian activity,” said a senior British military official.

Sources suggest that Russia began preparing for a possible conflict with NATO before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This preparation included surveillance and planning for sabotage operations against underwater infrastructure.

The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the fall of 2022 is seen as one of the first examples of these types of operations. The precision of the attack mirrors Russia’s hybrid warfare tactics. 

Experts also believe that the “anchor incidents” involving the severance of underwater data cables in the Baltic Sea were no coincidence.

Furthermore, intelligence suggests that yachts owned by Russian oligarchs may have been involved in espionage activities off the UK’s coast before February 2022 when the all-out Ukrainian invasion commenced. 

Some of these vessels were equipped to install or recover underwater surveillance devices.

The British military is particularly concerned about the risk of Russian attacks on cables that support military communications. Another significant threat is posed by offshore wind farms, which supply a fifth of the UK’s electricity. 

These wind farms are linked to the mainland via underwater cables, making them vulnerable to sabotage. Underwater oil and gas pipelines, including those running from Norway, also face the risk of attacks similar to the suspected Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.