UK warns Russia it is ready to face incursions after spy ship sighted

LONDON — Britain warned Russia on Wednesday that it was prepared to face any incursion into its territory after the spy ship Yantar was detected at the edge of UK waters north of Scotland.

Defense Secretary John Healey said the Russian ship had directed lasers at surveillance aircraft pilots monitoring its activities.

“My message to Russia and Putin is this: We see you. We know what you are doing,” Healey said during a briefing in London. “And if the Yantar heads south this week, we are ready.”

British officials said the Yantar is part of the Russian navy, designed to carry out peacetime surveillance and wartime sabotage. Because of this, the United Kingdom and its allies track the ship and work to deter its operations whenever it approaches British territorial waters.

“It is part of a Russian fleet designed to put and maintain our and our allies’ underwater infrastructure at risk,” Healey said, referring to attacks on pipelines and cables under the Baltic Sea earlier this year.

This is not the first time the Yantar has explored British defences, Healey said. After a warning last year, the Yantar left UK waters for the Mediterranean. When the Russian ship later sailed through the English Channel in January, it was followed by HMS Somerset, a frigate assigned to national defense in the waters surrounding Britain.