Speaking at a press conference on Downing Street, British Defense Secretary John Healey said that Britain's operation lasted more than 1 month, with the participation of a Royal Navy warship and a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, aimed at "tracking and preventing any dangerous activity" from 3 Russian submarines.
He declined to disclose the exact location of the operation, only saying that the operation did not take place in British territorial waters but in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), extending up to 200 nautical miles from the British coast or to the border with the waters of other countries.
According to Mr. Healey, the 3 Russian submarines involved in this operation include 1 Akula-class nuclear-powered submarine and 2 deep-sea diving submarines of the Russian General Directorate for Deep-Sea Studies (GUGI).
Russia's activities take place "in the context of world attention focused on the Middle East", due to tensions from the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
“My statement is to point out Russia's activities, and send a message to President Vladimir Putin: "We see you. We know the activities around our cable and pipeline systems. Any sabotage attempt will not be tolerated and will lead to serious consequences," the British Defense Minister emphasized.
Mr. Healey said that there is no evidence that gas pipelines or fiber optic cables are damaged, but Britain and its allies will continue to inspect.
Describing the operation in detail, he said: "A Royal Navy warship and a Royal Air Force P-8 aircraft, in coordination with allies, continuously monitored Russian submarines 24/7. After being closely monitored, the Akula-class submarine withdrew to the country and we continued to monitor 2 GUGI ships in and around the wider British waters.
The British Defense Secretary added that GUGI ships have now left British waters and moved north.
The operation involved about 500 British soldiers.
When asked in detail how to track and intercept submarines, Mr. Healey shared that sonar buoys are dropped regularly "to show them that we monitor every hour of their operation".
Because we are monitoring, we want to ensure we can warn them that the secret operation has been exposed, thereby reducing the risk of them taking any action that could damage our pipelines or cables," the British official added.
The British Ministry of Defense said that GUGI owns surface ships and specialized submarines for surveying undersea infrastructure in peacetime, but these ships are also capable of destroying or destroying important connections in wartime.
The nature of this operation shows that the British armed forces have the ability to detect, deter and respond when necessary to protect Britain and our important underground infrastructure" - Secretary Healey affirmed.
