Russian ships damaging UK underwater cables face raid by Royal Marine Commandos, signals Defence Secretary

Russian ships which harm British underwater cables look being raided and seized by Royal Marine Commandos, Defence Secretary John Healey has signalled.

He stressed that the UK was consenting to instrumentality “the strongest imaginable response” arsenic portion of its “homeland” information operations.

Mr Healey told Parliament this week however helium has changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement truthful it could intervene against “grey war” threats.

The Russian spy vessel the Yantar was warned disconnected by the British submarine and headed to the Mediterranean successful November.

But it returned precocious erstwhile it was monitored done the Channel by HMS Somerset earlier sailing into the North Sea.

“There is decidedly grounds of increasing Russian aggression, a readiness to propulsion the limits and beyond of planetary law, it isn’t conscionable British waters,” the Defence Secretary told BBC radio.

A vessel named arsenic Eagle S was seized by Finland aft being suspected of dragging its anchor on the seabed for miles and damaging the cable.

Mr Healey told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “On Christmas Day erstwhile that cablegram was damaged, it broke the transportation betwixt Finland and Estonia, they were portion of an cognition present that we are moving unneurotic to show the question of suspected Russian shadiness fleet breaking sanctions oregon their spy ships.

“That tanker was boarded by Finnish commandos, it was seized by Finland, truthful determination is enactment that nations similar america tin instrumentality if determination are harm oregon suspected sabotage to the cables connected which we depend.”

On the menace from Russian “shadow fleet” and spy vessels, helium stressed connected LBC radio: “We way them, we show what they are doing and we are sending the strongest messages that we tin to Putin..

“We person to accidental that we cognize what helium is doing, we person to accidental that the benignant of aggression that helium has been behind, the expanding sabotage and harm that we are seeing to undersea cables is simply a menace to our homeland.

“These are cables that our regular beingness depends connected and it’s 1 of the large areas of the Strategic Defence Review, however bash we reenforce Britain homeland information successful an property erstwhile we are nether expanding menace and those threats are changing.”

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