Britain, Norway and other countries conducted a weekslong operation to deter Russian spy submarines near undersea cables in the North Atlantic, the UK defense chief said Thursday, accusing Moscow of using the distraction of the Iran war to ramp up malign activity against Europe. Defense Secretary John Healey said a Royal Navy frigate, aircraft and hundreds of personnel were involved in tracking a Russian attack sub and two spy submarines operating north of the UK, and prevented the spy vessels from carrying out “nefarious” operations. He said the Russian vessels eventually left after the operation that lasted more than a month. NATO countries have repeatedly expressed concern that Russia could use its fleet of spy ships to sabotage underwater cables on which global communications depend. AdvertisementNorway and the UK said the activity was coordinated by Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, known as GUGI, which is part of Russian armed forces.

Source: The Times April 10, 2026 06:04 UTC