Overview
- A newly declassified Ministry of Defence image shows a Royal Navy submarine and a Merlin anti-submarine helicopter confronting Russia’s Yantar in November 2024.
- Defence sources report a Russian submarine accompanied Yantar while it surveyed the Britain–Ireland gas connector near the Isle of Man, a detail not previously public.
- Defence Secretary John Healey has said he authorised the UK boat to surface beside Yantar as a deterrent after covert tracking, prompting the vessel to move on.
- Specialist divers later checked the pipeline, and officials say no UK or Irish subsea cables or pipelines have been damaged.
- The government has created an Undersea Infrastructure Security Oversight Board, advanced the Atlantic Bastion programme, and expanded monitoring as the Navy cites a 30% rise in Russian activity and accuses Yantar’s crew of using lasers on RAF pilots.