RAF pilots monitoring a Russian spy ship off British waters were targeted with lasers, says Defence Secretary John Healey.
The Cabinet minister warned Russia that the UK was ready to “respond” with “military options” if the Yantar vessels heads close to the UK.
A Royal Navy submarine was previously ordered to surface to confront the Russian spy ship when it was caught loitering over undersea cables in UK waters.
The vessel, reportedly designed for gathering intelligence and mapping crucial undersea cables, has been spotted off the northern coast of Scotland, having entered wider UK waters over the last few weeks.
Mr Healey told a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday: “We deployed a Royal Navy frigate and RAF P-8 (surveillance) planes to monitor and track this vessel’s every move, during which the Yantar directed lasers at our pilots.
“That Russian action is deeply dangerous. This is the second time this year that this ship, the Yantar, has deployed to UK waters.
“My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing. If the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready.”
Britain has accused the Russian president of waging “grey warfare” against the West, with acts of aggressions but stopping short of attacks, including targeting key infrastructure cables.
Having launched his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin appears to be testing Nato’s resolve.
Russian drones were suspected of intruding into Polish, Estonian and Romanian airspace earlier this year.
Britain has deployed RAF jets for patrols over Poland as Nato strengthens its eastern border.
The UK and its allies are moving to “war readiness” in the face of the growing threat from Russia, with Britain building up its defence industry to supply far more weapons and munitions.
The UK’s aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been put under Nato command.
On the Yantar, Mr Healey stressed: “It is part of a Russian fleet designed to put and hold our undersea infrastructure and those of our allies at risk.
“It isn’t just a naval operation. It’s part of a Russian programme driven by what they call the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, or GUGI, and this is designed to have capabilities which can undertake surveillance in peacetime and sabotage in conflict.”
The UK and Nato allies are increasingly concerned about the risk Moscow poses to offshore cables, pipelines and other infrastructure critical to internet connectivity.
Attacks on undersea cables could cause “catastrophic disruption” to the financial and communications systems Britons rely on, the National Security Strategy Committee warned in a September report.
The Defence Secretary @JohnHealey_MP this morning confirmed that a Russian spy ship – the Yantar – is on the edge of UK waters, north of Scotland, having entered the UK’s wider waters over the last few weeks.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 19, 2025
This is a vessel used for gathering intelligence and mapping… pic.twitter.com/GO6LXVAfgU
The Yantar has been within the UK’s exclusive economic zone, which extends up to 200 nautical miles – about 230 miles – offshore, but has been on the edge of Britain’s territorial waters, within 12 nautical miles (13.8 miles) from the coast.
The incident with the laser is understood to have happened within the last fortnight.
Mr Healey said: “Clearly, anything that impedes, disrupts or puts at risk pilots in charge of British military planes is deeply dangerous.
“This is the first time we’ve had this action from Yantar directed against the British RAF.
“We take it extremely seriously. I’ve changed the navy’s rules of engagement so that we can follow more closely, monitor more closely, the activities of the Yantar when it’s in our wider waters.
“We have military options ready should the Yantar change course. I’m not going to reveal those, because that only makes president Putin wiser.”
A repeat of the submarine response could be one military option on the table, or warships could follow the example of the Dutch navy, which escorted the Yantar out of the Netherlands’ part of the North Sea earlier this month.
Downing Street would not say what representations the UK Government has made to Russia over the matter.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said that “our position on Russian interference is clear” but added that “I’m not going to get into conversations on the diplomatic level”.
