Russian submarines are secretly surveying underwater infrastructure in the Atlantic.

British Defence Secretary John Healey said the warship and patrol aircraft had forced Russia to cease operations in the North Sea during an operation that lasted more than a month. The Guardian.

A British warship and the Royal Air Force tracked and monitored Russian submarines attempting to survey critical underwater infrastructure in the North Atlantic. Ultimately, the British military forced the Russians to leave the area, according to British Defence Secretary John Healey.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Healey said the operation had lasted more than a month and involved a Royal Navy ship and P-8 patrol aircraft "monitoring and deterring any malicious activity" from three Russian submarines.

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While declining to specify the location of the operation, Healy said it took place not in UK territorial waters but in its exclusive economic zone, which extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the coast or to the border with other countries' zones.

According to him, the submarines included one Akula-class nuclear submarine, as well as two deep-sea submarines from the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Healy noted that the Russian activity came at a time when many people's attention was focused on the Middle East due to the US and Israeli strike on Iran.

He added: "I'm making this statement to highlight Russian activity, and addressing President Putin, I say, 'We see you. We see your activity on our cables and pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will have serious consequences.'"

Healy said there was no evidence of damage to pipelines or cables, but British and allied forces would carry out an investigation.

Describing the operation, he said: "A Royal Navy ship and RAF P-8 aircraft, together with allies, provided 24-hour surveillance of Russian submarines.

The Akula-class submarine subsequently returned to base under constant surveillance, while we continued to track the two DSO boats in the wider waters around the UK.

Our armed forces left them in no doubt that they were being monitored, that their movements were not secret, as President Putin had hoped, and that their attempt to conduct a covert operation had been uncovered. These submarines have now left British waters and are heading north."

He added that 500 British troops took part in the operation.

Asked how exactly the submarines were tracked and deterred, Healy said sonobuoys were dropped regularly "to demonstrate to them that we are monitoring every hour of their operations."

He added: "Because we were monitoring them, we wanted to make it clear that their covert operation had been exposed and reduce the risk that they would try to take any action that could damage our pipelines or cables."

Healey said the episode showed why the government views Moscow "as the primary threat to the UK and NATO," adding: "We will not lose sight of Putin while acting to protect British interests and our allies in the Middle East."

The UK Ministry of Defence has stated that the Russian Ministry of Defence's Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research has specialist surface vessels and submarines used to survey underwater infrastructure in peacetime, but with the capability to damage or destroy it in the event of a conflict.

Britain and its NATO allies are increasingly concerned about the risks to undersea cables and pipelines from Moscow as tensions escalate following the invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking about the need to increase defence spending, Healy noted that this operation demonstrates Britain's ability to deter Russia.

"The nature of this operation demonstrates that the UK Armed Forces have the capability to detect, deter and, if necessary, respond to threats to protect our critical undersea infrastructure," he said.

Asked about Donald Trump's criticism of European countries' contributions to NATO, Healey said: "I'm not going to comment on social media posts. I can only point to conversations I've had with his Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, both one-on-one and at NATO defense ministerial meetings, where I sat next to him."

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He made it clear that the US is fully committed to NATO and Article 5, but at the same time is pressing European countries like the UK to increase their contributions to NATO."

Asked whether the US president's decision to strike Iran made Putin's job easier, Healy declined to answer.

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