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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty during their meeting at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow, Thursday, April 2, 2026. via Associated Press<\/p>\n
Vladimir Putin wants the UK to be distracted by the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, according to the British defence secretary.<\/p>\n
John Healey revealed how British forces have uncovered \u201cincreased Russian activity in the Atlantic, north of the UK\u201d while giving a statement from Downing Street.<\/p>\n
He said a nuclear-powered attack submarine and two specialist submarines from Russia\u2019s main directorate for deep sea research were detected in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n
These ships were in the UK\u2019s exclusive economic zone. It\u2019s not clear what they were threatening to do, but Healey pointed out that Britain has undersea fibre optic cables which are key for the UK\u2019s digital communications.<\/p>\n
He claimed these vessels were all directed by the Russian president to \u201cconduct hybrid activities against the UK and our allies, specifically around critical undersea infrastructure\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the submarines are meant to survey underwater infrastructure \u201cduring peacetime and sabotage it in conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n
The UK military has been tracking these vessels by sea and air in a month-long mission with allies.<\/p>\n
The attack submarine \u2013 since discovered to have been a distraction from the Russian forces to shift focus from the other vessels \u2013 has since \u201cretreated home\u201d, while the specialist submarines are still being monitored.<\/p>\n
The defence secretary said there was no evidence the submarines caused any damage to UK pipelines or cables.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to ensure that we could warn them that their covert operation had been exposed and reduce the risk that they made to attempt any action that could damage our pipelines or our cables,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked if the timing of these Russian operations was deliberately timed in line with the Iran war, Healey said: \u201cI\u2019m pretty clear that Putin would want us to be distracted by the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m setting out today demonstrates that we are not just exposing his covert operation, but we are saying to him that we recognise Russia as the primary threat to the UK and to Nato, and that we will not take our eyes off Putin, whilst at the same time we act to protect our British interests and our British allies in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putin is a known ally to Iran, and according to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, helping Tehran target US bases in the Middle East.<\/a><\/p>\n