LOC13:02
10:02 GMT
News report by Nusaibah Bin Shaiba
LONDON, April 15 (KUNA) -- A recent statement by Russia's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andrei Kelin, has reignited debate over the potential threat posed by Russian vessels passing through waters surrounding Britain.
This follows increased monitoring by the Royal Navy, which has tracked several Russian ships since January.
On Sunday, Ambassador Kelin acknowledged claims that Russian sensor devices may have been hidden in the waters around Great Britain to monitor the movement of British nuclear submarines. However, he emphasized that such devices do not pose a threat to the UK.
In an interview with the BBC's First Channel, Kelin said, "I deny there are any threats to the United Kingdom. These claims are completely fabricated. There is no threat from Russia to the UK."
His remarks came shortly after The Sunday Times published an investigation earlier this April, detailing the discovery of Russian sensor devices in British territorial waters. The report suggested that Moscow may have planted these devices to collect intelligence on the UK's four Vanguard-class submarines, which are armed with nuclear missiles.
The newspaper noted that the British military viewed the devices as a potential threat to national security.
The concerns escalated after the Royal Navy released images in March showing the Russian warship (Boikiy) sailing near British waters. It was one of several Russian vessels monitored by UK forces in recent months.
The monitoring operation of Boikiy began on March 5 and lasted for three days. It involved a Royal Navy patrol aircraft and NATO forces as the ship travelled through the English Channel and the North Sea, accompanied by a commercial vessel on its return to Russia.
In January, UK Defense Secretary John Healey revealed that the Royal Navy had tracked a Russian intelligence shi (Yantar) near UK waters. He accused the vessel of gathering intelligence and mapping Britain's undersea infrastructure.
A spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defense told the BBC that the ministry remains committed to protecting and strengthening the resilience of underwater infrastructure.
"As the Defense Secretary said, the activities of the Russian spy ship (Yantar), which was operating near our undersea cables, serve as a reminder: those who threaten the UK or our allies should know we will defend our undersea infrastructure," the spokesperson added.
Undersea infrastructure includes cables that carry electricity and data between countries in seconds, making them critically important.
In recent months, suspicions have also arisen about potential sabotage of such infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. In November, Germany raised concerns over the possible deliberate severing of two fiber-optic cables connecting Germany to Finland, Sweden, and Lithuania.
According to a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), submarines capable of deep-sea operations could cut undersea cables - which are extremely difficult to repair - or potentially tap into sensitive communications.
Experts in Russia's Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, a military body directly linked to the Russian Ministry of Defense and President Vladimir Putin, are believed to oversee these intelligence operations.
The directorate uses vessels to monitor and gather intelligence, such as mapping offshore wind farms or cable landing sites. However, it also deploys so-called "mother ships" to conduct deep-sea missions, often using vehicles resembling old nuclear ballistic missile submarines.
Russia is known to possess titanium submarines capable of diving to depths of several thousand meters, equipped with robotic arms for deep-sea tasks. (end)
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