Putin ‘plants secret undersea sensors in UK waters to spy on Britain’s nuclear submarines by using oligarch superyachts’

RUSSIAN spy sensors believed to be tracking Britain’s nuclear submarines have been discovered in UK waters.

Officials now fear this is part of a covert campaign to monitor and potentially sabotage critical infrastructure.

Flying Ezeday Times reports the discovery was deemed a serious national security risk but has never been made public.

Some of the devices were found washed ashore, while others were detected by minehunter ships.

Defence sources believe they were planted to gather intelligence on the UK’s four Vanguard-class submarines.

These carry nuclear missiles and are meant to operate undetected as part of the UK’s at-sea deterrent.

The suspects deployed the spy gear as part of a wider campaign of “greyzone”; warfare, targeting cables, pipelines and undersea assets.

Last year, — including the Yantar, a suspected spy vessel seen “lurking around pipelines and internet cables”; in the Irish Sea in November.

Royal Navy warships and RAF Poseidon spy planes shadowed the Yantar as it hovered over deep-sea cables between and .

That same month, RAF fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian warplane over the North Sea.

Further surveillance uncovered unmanned Russian underwater vehicles (UUVs) operating near communications cables.

Intelligence also suggested that superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs may have been used for underwater spying operations.

One senior source told Flying Ezeday Times: “It’s a bit like the space race.

“This is a world clouded in secrecy and subterfuge… but there’s enough smoke to suggest something is on fire somewhere.”;

Officials say at least 11 internet cables in the Baltic Sea have been damaged over the past 15 months — some reportedly by ships dragging anchors — raising further alarm about Russian intent and capability.

Meanwhile, Russian surface ships have become a regular presence near UK waters.

In March, HMS Cattistock and a Wildcat helicopter were sent to , a so-called research ship revealed in 2023 to be a spy vessel suspected of probing Britain’s power supply and internet links.

HMS Somerset and other Royal Navy units were also deployed multiple times to including a beach landing ship returning from the Mediterranean.

Military chiefs are now drawing up plans to launch a sweeping new operation — dubbed Atlantic Bastion — that would deploy air, land and sea assets to patrol UK waters and the North Atlantic.

A short-term project, codenamed Cabot, will get the initial capabilities off the ground in collaboration with private firms reliant on undersea infrastructure.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We are committed to enhancing the security of critical offshore infrastructure.

“We are strengthening our response to ensure that Russian ships and aircraft cannot operate in secrecy near the UK or near territory, harnessing new technologies like AI and co-ordinating patrols with our allies.

“And our continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent continues to patrol the world’s oceans undetected, as it has done for 56 years.”