A Russian spy ship has entered British waters and shone lasers at military pilots, the defence secretary has said, as he warned the UK was facing a “new era of threat” from hostile countries.
John Healey told reporters on Wednesday the “deeply dangerous” move was being taken “extremely seriously” by the government, adding the UK would continue monitoring the ship and had “military options ready” should the vessel change course.
He said the surveillance ship had crossed in and out of the UK’s exclusive economic zone multiple times in recent weeks, not for the first time this year.
Unlike the previous occasion, Russian sailors started directing lasers at British military pilots who were monitoring them, in what UK officials said was a significant escalation.
In a speech delivered from Downing Street, Healey said: “As I speak, a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, is on the edge of UK waters, north of Scotland, having entered the UK’s wider waters over the last few weeks. This is a vessel designed for gathering intelligence and mapping our undersea cables.
“We deployed a Royal Navy frigate and RAF P-8 planes to monitor and track this vessel’s every move, during which the Yantar directed lasers at our pilots. That Russian action is deeply dangerous, and this is the second time this year that this ship, the Yantar, has deployed to UK waters. So my message to Russia and to Putin is this: we see you, we know what you’re doing, but if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready.”
He added: “Anything that impedes, disrupts or puts at risk pilots in charge of British military planes is deeply dangerous. This is the first time we’ve had this action from Yantar directed against the British RAF – we take it extremely seriously.”
The latest foray by the Yantar is part of a pattern of Russian incursions into Nato-controlled territory, including Russian drones recently being flown over Poland and Belgium. The ship previously entered British waters in January, when it was tracked by a nuclear-powered submarine, which then surfaced very close to it.
Healey said he had changed the navy’s rules of engagement so British ships could follow the Yantar more closely, at a distance understood to be equivalent to the length of a football pitch. He said he believed the ship was trying to map British undersea cables.
In what was billed as a pre-budget speech, Healey said the latest Russian action vindicated the government’s increase in defence spending, as he announced that some of the extra funding would be used to build 13 new ammunition factories.
Speaking from the Downing Street briefing room rather than his more familiar surrounds of the Ministry of Defence opposite, Healey said: “The chancellor’s decisions at this budget will protect those choices into the future to make Britain safer, more secure at home, stronger abroad.”
The Russian embassy in the UK responded by accusing the British government of being “Russophobic” and “whipping up militaristic hysteria”.
According to a translation, a statement from the Russian embassy said: “We have taken note of yet another provocative statement by British defence secretary John Healey. This time, the reason was the activities of the Russian oceanographic research vessel Yantar in international waters.
“The endless accusations and suspicions of the British leadership cause only a smile. Our country’s actions do not affect the interests of the United Kingdom and are not aimed at undermining its security. We are not interested in British underwater communications.
“However, London, with its Russophobic course and whipping up militaristic hysteria, contributes to the further degradation of European security, creating the prerequisites for new dangerous situations.
“We call on the British side to refrain from destructive steps that exacerbate the crisis on the European continent.”
The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: “Russia has failed in its military objectives over the course of this year, so as a result what we have seen them try to do is to seek continually to escalate.
“We can see the approach they are taking, we have no illusions about what they are doing. We see what Putin is doing and we understand and we will continue to be vigilant and determined in our response.
“Just as we have been about incursions into Nato airspace, just as we are being now in terms of identifying the Russian spy ship in UK waters and just as we have continued to be in response to sabotage threats that we have seen across many different European countries as well.
“It will not deter us from supporting Ukraine, quite the opposite, because we know Ukraine’s security is our security.”
It comes as Healey and Keir Starmer struggle to agree the terms on which the UK could participate in a new European defence fund despite the prime minister having flown to Berlin on Tuesday to talk about security.
Politico reported on Wednesday that Brussels was asking for the UK to contribute between €4.5bn (£4bn) and €6.5bn (£5.7bn) to the Safe fund, while the UK had offered between €200m and €300m (£176m to £264m).
Healey said the government would not sign a deal unless it represented value for money in what appeared to be a downbeat assessment of the chances of reaching an agreement. “We’re ready to be part of this scheme but we’re not ready to be willing at any price,” he said.
“For us as the UK, we have an industry that’s second to none in Europe. We will do these deals with other European countries. We will play our part in reinforcing European security, and we recognise that responsibility we have as Britain, amongst European nations, particularly those in Nato, to play that role in future – and we will, in or out of Safe.”
Healey has been talked of by some as a potential successor to Starmer should the prime minister be forced out of office before the next election, though his allies say he is not interested in the top job.
