Defence Secretary John Healey has told Vladimir Putin that ‘we will not shy away from robust action to protect this country’ after revealing that a Russian spy ship has been off the British coast for two days.
In a statement to Parliament this afternoon, he said the ship Yantar has been spotted ‘loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure’ since arriving at the start of the week.
Healey told MPs: ‘Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure.
‘Yantar entered the UK exclusive economic zone about 45 miles off the British coast on Monday.’
RAF maritime patrol aircraft have been deployed alongside three ships from the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary to shadow its ‘every movement’, he said. The Defence Secretary added that the ship has so far ‘complied with international rules of navigation’.