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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said it monitored a Russian spy ship in the English Channel in recent days and would strengthen its response to secret operations by Russian ships and aircraft in an effort to protect undersea cables.
Defence minister John Healey said Yantar, a Russian spy vessel used for intelligence and mapping critical infrastructure on the sea floor, entered British waters on Monday and the Royal Navy tracked it for two days until it entered Dutch waters.
Russia's embassy in London did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Worries over the potential sabotage of power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been growing after a string of outages in the Baltic Sea following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"We will not shy away from robust action to protect Britain," Healey said on Wednesday.
"We are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near UK or NATO territory."
Britain decided to send maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft to help NATO's efforts to protect cables in the Baltic Sea, Healey announced, adding that it would also deploy an advanced AI system to help safeguard undersea infrastructure.
Healey said Yantar had already been caught in British waters in November when it loitered over cables.
He told parliament that given Yantar's activities he had changed the rules of engagement in order to allow Royal Navy ships to get closer and better track it, and he had also authorised the surfacing of a Royal Navy submarine close to Yantar as a deterrent measure.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by William James)
