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

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

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

Britain said other allies were also involved, but did not 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 rejected these claims.

Healey said his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin was “we see your activity over our cables and 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 the Russian operation took place in and near Norwegian and British maritime areas in recent weeks.

Norway and Britain said the activity was coordinated by Russia’s Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research, known as GUGI, which is part of the Russian Armed Forces.

The activity is a reminder that Russia is further developing its capabilities to map and sabotage critical Western infrastructure at ocean depth, the Norwegian Ministry of Defense said.

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

In November, Britain told Russia it was ready to tackle any incursion into its territory after the Yantar spy ship was discovered on the edge of British waters north of Scotland.

Healey said the submarine activity took place in Britain’s exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the coast, but not in its narrower territorial waters.

British officials have tried to keep Russia in the international spotlight even as the world’s attention is focused on the conflict in the Middle East. They have also highlighted 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 poses the biggest threat to Britain and its allies.

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

In late March, the United Kingdom said its military was ready to seize ships believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of ships carrying oil, in violation of international sanctions over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Previously, Britain had only helped France and the US monitor ships before boarding them.

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

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