The Russian ship “Yantar is accused of carrying out espionage and intelligence surveillance operations
Britain has escalated its tone towards Russia after its ship “Yantar” was in its territorial waters last week for the second time in a few months. London considered that this ship is carrying out “espionage operations, gathering intelligence information, and mapping vital underwater infrastructure.” This is not the first time that “Yantar” has raised concerns among Europeans and Western countries in general.
The Russian ship “Yantar is a special-purpose intelligence collection ship built for the Russian Navy. The ship has been operated by the Russian Navy’s Main Directorate of Underwater Research (GUGI) since 2015 and is reportedly a spy ship.
The issue of the Russian ship “Yantar”, which is accused of carrying out espionage and intelligence surveillance operations, has resurfaced again, and it is still raising concerns among many European countries, especially after its appearance in the English Channel.
A week ago, London announced that it had been spotted in its waters, and the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement that “this Russian spy ship was tracked by the Royal Navy to ensure the security of the United Kingdom.”
“We know what you are doing.”
British Defense Minister John Healey also stated in Parliament on Wednesday that the Royal Navy is tracking the movements of a “Russian spy ship” that crossed British waters in the English Channel, warning Russia by saying: “We know what you are doing.”
London to Moscow: “We see you, we know what you’re doing”
Healey explained that “the Yantar ship is currently in the North Sea after passing through British waters,” stressing: “It is a Russian spy ship used to collect information and survey the United Kingdom’s essential infrastructure on the seabed.”
The British military official continued: “I also want President (Russian Vladimir) Putin to hear this message: We see you, we know what you’re doing, and we will not hesitate to take strong action to protect this country,” according to Agency FP
London also pointed out that this ship was indeed spotted over submarine cables in British waters last November.
While the Kremlin refused to make any official comment regarding “Yantar,” the Russian embassy in London denied “the accusations made by the British defense establishment,” stressing that “such threats have never come from Russia.”
Russia: “Yantar” is an oceanographic ship
Officially, Russia says that “Yantar” is an oceanographic ship used to conduct scientific research at sea and is commissioned by the Russian Ministry of Defense and separate from its naval fleet.
According to the former commander of the French Naval School, Michel Olhagarai, this Russian definition is just a “cover”, as he said: “This does not fool anyone at all. Almost all Russian ships have electromagnetic capabilities. Yantar is an eavesdropping and spy ship.”
According to a report by Radio France International, this ship belongs to the “Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research” known by the Russian acronym GUGI. The RFI report likens Yantar to the “KGB (formerly Soviet intelligence)” of the seas, considering that it is in fact a secret Russian underwater research agency “carrying out espionage and sabotage missions, especially for submarine cables.”
Near the “Atlantic Crossing 1” submarine communications cable
The Russian ship is equipped with a full range of equipment. According to information obtained by France 24, Yantar has underwater robots and drones on board, in addition to an indoor swimming pool to secretly store its equipment, and it is capable of operating at depths of up to 7,000 meters underwater. Yantar also has visual equipment on its masts, including an antenna at the back of the ship that can eavesdrop on all mobile phone communications within a range of several kilometres.
In 2014, the ship was launched and has been closely followed for years by independent defense analyst H.I. Sutton. He has posted photos of the various pieces of visual equipment on board Yantar on his website.
The researcher describes Yantar as a “special and unique mothership (supply ship, also leading or transporting smaller ships).” As for the background to its presence in British waters a week ago, H.I. Sutton said, according to statements reported by Euronews: “I think Yantar was on a mission to carry out diving operations that do not require much stealth from submarines, and that can be done at a lower cost.”
A tool for mapping the seabed?
The same channel reported that the Russian ship “is equipped with electronic sensors to map the seabed, and a communications dome, which suggests that it is likely used to map the network of vital pipelines and cables that connect Western countries.”
In light of this, British waters seem to be a strategic target for the Russian ship, given the presence of several submarine cables that connect the United Kingdom to the United States on the one hand, and to the European continent on the other.
In this context, Michel Olhagarai explains: “The basic underwater infrastructure is known. About 80 to 90 percent of communications exchanges, intelligence and financial flows pass through these cables.”
According to our information, “Yantar” has the ability to spy not only on submarine communications cables, but also on energy transmission infrastructure, i.e. power cables, oil pipelines, not to mention underwater gas pipelines.
As for the reasons for its presence in British waters, the European TV channel (Euronews) reported in the same report that its crossing of the English Channel brings it closer to the Atlantic Crossing 1 line, which is an undersea communications cable that connects the United States to the United Kingdom, as well as to both the Netherlands and Germany.
