Russian ambassador does not deny Kremlin is tracking UK’s nuclear subs

Russia’s ambassador to the UK has not denied claims the Kremlin hid spy sensors in seas around Great Britain to track UK nuclear submarines.

Asked by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg whether he objected to the claims, Andrei Kelin said: ‘No.’

‘I am not going to deny it, but I wonder whether we really have an interest in following all the British submarine with very old outdated nuclear warheads… all these threats are extremely exaggerated.’

Pressed by Kuenssberg, the ambassador went on to repeatedly deny the ‘existence of threats’.

He said: ‘This threat has been invented, absolutely, there is no threat at all from Russia to the UK.’

An investigation by The Sunday Times last week revealed that Russian sensors suspected of attempting to spy on the UK nuclear submarines have been spotted in seas around Britain.

The devices are believed to have been planted by Russia to gather intelligence on Britain’s four Vanguard submarines, which carry nuclear missiles.

While the discovery by the British military has been deemed a potential threat to national security, it has never been made public, the newspaper reported.

Commenting on the findings, former defence and Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood warned that Britain is ‘behind the curve’ in tracking Russia’s deep-sea operations.

Ellwood said the use of sensors was ‘only half the story’, adding that the Kremlin has established ‘remote seabed platforms’ off the UK coast that act as recharging stations for dozens of mini-submarines ‘to map our undersea cable networks for potential sabotage’.

Last month, the Royal Navy and RAF shadowed Russian warships as they sailed through British waters for the third time in six weeks.

Four Russian ships on their way back from Syria were closely watched by British ships and helicopters, gathering information on their every move.

The operation came just weeks after the Royal Navy released images of Boikiy – a Russian corvette tracked by HMS Somerset for three days while it travelled through the English Channel and North Sea, escorting a merchant vessel on its return from Syria to Russia.

A radar system on Somerset, which is a British Type 23 frigate, was used to track the warship’s movements, while a Merlin helicopter gathered information from the sky.

Defence Secretary John Healey revealed in January that the Navy had been tracking a separate Russian spy ship through the English Channel, informing Vladimir Putin the government was watching the Kremlin’s activity in UK waters.

‘We see you,’ he warned.

A Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesperson said: ‘We are committed to maintaining and enhancing the security and resilience of critical undersea infrastructure.

‘Just as the Defence Secretary called out the activities of the Russian spy ship Yantar hovering over our undersea cables, let those who threaten the UK or our allies be in no doubt that we will defend our undersea infrastructure.’

Commenting on the Sunday Times story, an MOD spokesperson told the newspaper: ‘Alongside our NATO and Joint Expeditionary Force allies, we are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near the UK or near NATO territory, harnessing new technologies like AI and coordinating patrols with our allies.

‘And our continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent continues to patrol the world’s oceans undetected as it has done for 56 years.’

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