The UK and Norway sent a warship, aircraft, and hundreds of personnel on a month-long mission to watch and follow Russian submarines that were acting suspiciously near important underwater cables and pipelines in the North Atlantic Ocean, the UK military said.
On Thursday, UK Defence Secretary John Healey expressed suspicions of “malign activity” regarding a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines near undersea infrastructure north of the UK. He said that the Russian submarines left after the operation, which lasted a month.
Asserting that Russia is the main threat to the UK and its allies, Healey said, “Putin would want us to be distracted by the Middle East.”
“We will not take our eyes off Putin,” he said.
In a message to Russia, Healey said, “We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.”
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