Overview
- Defence Secretary John Healey said RAF P‑8 crews were targeted by lasers from the Russian vessel Yantar while monitoring it north of Scotland within the UK’s exclusive economic zone.
- A Royal Navy frigate and RAF Poseidon aircraft are tracking the ship, and the navy’s rules of engagement have been tightened to shadow it more closely.
- Healey said “military options” are prepared should the vessel change course, calling the laser use deeply dangerous and the first reported instance from Yantar against UK aircraft.
- Britain assesses Yantar as part of Russia’s GUGI program capable of deploying deep‑sea submersibles to survey or threaten seabed infrastructure such as communication and energy cables.
- Russia’s embassy denies wrongdoing, describing Yantar as an oceanographic research ship operating in international waters and rejecting claims it targets UK underwater communications.