United Kingdom encounters Russian spy sensors under its shores

The British military has discovered several Russian espionage devices in the waters surrounding the United Kingdom, suspected of being used to gather as much information as possible on the UK’s nuclear submarines.

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The Royal Navy became aware of the situation after multiple of these sensors were washed ashore. British intelligence believes the deployment of these devices by the Russian state aimed to collect data on the four “Vanguard” submarines, which are armed with nuclear missiles.

Specialized Russian submarine fleet

According to an investigation by the UK’s Ministry of Defence, British intelligence had reliable information about Russian oligarchs’ superyachts potentially being used for undercover surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Russia is said to have a fleet of submarines that is more advanced and specialized than that of the UK, and even more so than those of its NATO allies. Throughout the conflict with Ukraine, Russia has intensified surveillance efforts and acts of sabotage targeting the undersea infrastructure of other nations.

In the 15 months since the war began, at least eleven internet cables have been damaged in the Baltic Sea, reportedly due to ships dragging anchors and cables across the seabed.

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Following the discovery of espionage devices and the damage to a British cable between Estonia and Finland, the UK government has decided to act. They have launched Operation Nordic Warden, a rapid-response system that uses artificial intelligence to track the whereabouts of Russia’s “shadow fleet.”

“War in the Atlantic”

Given the tense situation, a senior British military official stated in an interview: “Make no mistake: there is a war in the Atlantic. It’s a cat-and-mouse game that has been ongoing since the end of the Cold War and is now intensifying once again. We are witnessing phenomenal Russian activity.” Just last year, the sighting of the Russian spy ship Yantar near the UK’s shores raised alarms among British intelligence services.

“It’s a bit like the space race,” one British source told the newspaper. “This is a world of secrecy and subterfuge, it’s very difficult to get absolute clarity. But there’s enough smoke to suggest something is definitely burning somewhere,” the source concluded.