UK and Norway led a military operation to deter Russian submarines in the North Atlantic

Yui Mok/Pool/Reuters/File

Britain, Norway and other countries conducted a weekslong operation to deter Russian spy submarines near undersea cables in the North Atlantic, the UK defense chief said Thursday, accusing Moscow of using the distraction of the Iran war to ramp up malign activity against Europe.

Defense Secretary John Healey said a Royal Navy frigate, aircraft and hundreds of personnel were involved in tracking a Russian attack sub and two spy submarines operating north of the UK, and prevented the spy vessels from carrying out “nefarious” operations.

He said the Russian vessels eventually left after the operation that lasted more than a month.

The UK said other allies were also involved, but didn’t name them.

NATO countries have repeatedly expressed concern that Russia could use its fleet of spy ships to sabotage underwater cables on which global communications depend. Russia has dismissed those claims.

Healey said his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin was “we see your activity over our cables and our pipelines and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.”

Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik said in a statement that Russia’s operation occurred in and near Norwegian and British maritime areas in recent weeks.

Norway and the UK said the activity was coordinated by Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research , known as GUGI, which is part of Russian armed forces. The activity is a reminder that Russia is further developing its abilities to map and sabotage critical Western infrastructure at ocean depths, Norway’s Defense Ministry said.

Healey said the subs are “designed to survey underwater infrastructure during peacetime and sabotage it in conflict.”

In November, Britain told Russia it was ready to deal with any incursion into its territory after the spy ship Yantar was detected on the edge of UK waters north of Scotland.

Healey said the submarine activity occurred in the UK’s exclusive economic zone, which extends for 200 nautical miles (230 miles, 370 kilometers) from shore, but not its narrower territorial waters.

British officials have tried to keep Russia in the international spotlight even as the world’s attention is focused on conflict in the Middle East. They have also stressed the overlap between conflicts there and in Ukraine, saying Russia has supplied Iran with drone parts and other support.

Healey told a news conference that “Putin would want us to be distracted by the Middle East,” but Russia is the main threat to the UK and its allies.

“We will not take our eyes off Putin,” he said.

In late March, the UK said its military was ready to seize ships suspected to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of vessels shipping oil in violation of international sanctions over Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Previously, Britain had only helped France and the US monitor ships before they were boarded.

“We are ready to take action” against the vessels, Healey said.

Yui Mok/Pool/路透社/文件

英国国防部长周四表示，英国、挪威和其他国家开展了为期数周的行动，以阻止俄罗斯间谍潜艇在北大西洋海底电缆附近活动。他指责莫斯科利用伊朗战争的混乱局面，加大了对欧洲的恶意活动。

国防大臣约翰·希利表示，皇家海军的一艘护卫舰、飞机和数百名人员参与了对一艘俄罗斯攻击潜艇和两艘在英国北部活动的间谍潜艇的追踪，并阻止了这些间谍船只进行“邪恶”行动。

他说，经过一个多月的行动，俄罗斯船只最终离开了。

英国方面表示，其他盟国也参与其中，但没有透露盟国名称。

北约国家多次表示担忧，认为俄罗斯可能利用其间谍船队破坏全球通信所依赖的海底电缆。俄罗斯否认了这些指控。

希利表示，他向俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京传达的信息是：“我们看到了你们在我们海底电缆和输油管道上的活动，你们应该知道，任何破坏它们的企图都将不被容忍，并将导致严重的后果。”

挪威国防部长托雷·桑德维克在一份声明中表示，俄罗斯的军事行动发生在最近几周的挪威和英国海域及其附近地区。

挪威和英国表示，此次行动由俄罗斯深海研究总局（GUGI）协调，该机构隶属于俄罗斯武装部队。挪威国防部指出，此次行动提醒人们，俄罗斯正在进一步发展其绘制和破坏西方深海关键基础设施的能力。

希利表示，这些潜艇“设计用于在和平时期勘测水下基础设施，并在冲突时期破坏这些基础设施”。

11 月，英国向俄罗斯表示，在间谍船“琥珀号”出现在苏格兰北部英国水域边缘后，英国已准备好应对任何入侵其领土的行为。

希利表示，潜艇活动发生在英国的专属经济区内，该经济区从海岸延伸 200 海里（230 英里，370 公里），但不包括其较窄的领海。

尽管全世界的目光都聚焦在中东冲突上，英国官员仍试图让俄罗斯继续保持在国际关注范围内。他们还强调了中东冲突与乌克兰冲突的重叠之处，称俄罗斯向伊朗提供了无人机部件和其他支持。

希利在新闻发布会上表示，“普京希望我们被中东局势分散注意力”，但俄罗斯才是英国及其盟友面临的主要威胁。

他说：“我们不会放松对普京的关注。”

3月下旬，英国表示，其军方已准备好扣押涉嫌属于俄罗斯“影子舰队”的船只，这些船只违反了国际社会因莫斯科入侵乌克兰而实施的制裁，运送石油。此前，英国仅协助法国和美国在登船检查前对船只进行监视。

希利说：“我们已准备好对这些船只采取行动。”