Russian spy ship found in UK as British official warns Putin: “We know what you’re doing”

British Defense Secretary John Healey told Parliament on Wednesday that the Royal Navy was tracking a “Russian spy ship” that passed through UK waters, warning Russian President Vladimir Putin: “We know what you’re doing.”

Healey said the Yantar vessel “is used to gather intelligence and map the UK’s vital underwater infrastructure.”

“I also wanted President Putin to hear this message: We see you, we know what you are doing and we will not shy away from taking drastic measures to protect this country,” he told the law enforcement.

The ship entered British waters on Monday about 45 kilometers from the country’s coast, and the Royal Navy sent two ships to monitor it, Healey said.

“It has been detected hovering over the UK’s undersea infrastructure,” the defense minister said.

He added that the ship was in the North Sea, “having passed through British waters.”

Healey said a Royal Navy submarine was authorized to approach the Yantar “as a preventive measure” and “to make it clear that we have been monitoring everything that is being done,” BBC News reported.

Healey said it was the second time Yantar had been found in British waters recently, after it was also spotted in November.

British warships have followed Russian warships several times in recent months.

Earlier this month, the Royal Navy revealed that in late December the frigate HMS Somerset had tracked a Russian military group as it moved from the North Sea to the English Channel, even though the group was in international waters.

In November, British jets have been jettisoned to monitor a Russian plane flying close to UK airspace, a few days later NATO aircraft were mobilized when Russian planes were seen over the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Norway.

In September last year, Royal Navy warships spent a week “closely searching” for four Russian ships in UK waters, while two Royal Air Force jets attempted to intercept two Russian jets operating near the UK, the navy said in a press release.

And in September, the US Coast Guard said it had tracked it down Russian naval fleetincluding two submarines, as they crossed into US waters off Alaska in an apparent attempt to avoid sea ice.

The month before that, a US Coast Guard cutter patrolled Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. came across a Russian ship in international waters but within the US economic zone only.