The Russian ambassador to the UK has not denied allegations suggesting that Russian sensors have been planted in waters around Great Britain to track UK nuclear submarines. Andrei Kelin addressed the accusations, stating that while he did not deny Russia’s attempts to monitor British submarines, he dismissed the notion that these activities posed a threat to the UK. During an interview on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Kelin responded to the claims by saying, “I am not going to deny it, but I wonder whether we really have an interest in following all the British submarines with very old outdated nuclear warheads… all these threats are extremely exaggerated.”
In a follow-up question by Kuenssberg, Kelin continued to defend Russia’s actions by stating, “I’m denying existence of threats for the United Kingdom. This threat has been invented, absolutely, there is no threat at all from Russia to the UK.” Kelin’s comments come in the wake of an investigative report published by the Sunday Times, disclosing the discovery of alleged Russian sensors in British waters. The devices, believed to have been placed by Moscow, are suspected to gather intelligence on the UK’s four Vanguard submarines, which house nuclear missiles.
The British military uncovered the presence of these devices and identified them as a potential risk to national security. The devices are categorized as part of a hybrid war strategy orchestrated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which may also include damaging infrastructure assets like energy pipelines. These allegations surface after the Royal Navy shared images in March of a Russian warship, Boikiy, being tracked near British waters. The vessel, along with others, has been closely monitored for activities near the British coastline in recent times.
Former Conservative defence and Foreign Office minister, Tobias Ellwood, has cautioned that the UK needs to step up its monitoring of Russia’s deep-sea operations. In a recent interview with the Guardian, Ellwood highlighted the establishment of “remote seabed platforms” by Russia off the UK coast, serving as recharging stations for mini-submarines that could potentially sabotage undersea cable networks. The Ministry of Defence has reiterated its commitment to fortifying the security and resilience of critical undersea infrastructure and defending against any threats from Russia or its allies
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