The nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine surfaced close to the Yantar to let the Russian ship know it was being watched.

A Royal Navy submarine was authorized to surface close to a Russian ship "strictly as a deterrent measure," British Defense Secretary John Healey said.

A Russian spy ship has been monitored by the Royal Navy after it entered UK waters earlier this week, the defence secretary has said - as he issued a warning to President Vladimir Putin.

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey on Wednesday issued a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin after reporting a Russian spy ship had entered British waters earlier this week.

A Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine was deployed to warn off a Russian spy ship operating in the English Channel, the government has revealed. The hunter-killer submarine surfaced close to the Russian vessel The Yantar which was loitering over critical undersea cables.

Defence secretary John Healey said the Russian vessel Yantar is being 'used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure'

The Royal Navy has been monitoring a Russian spy ship after it was spotted around UK waters earlier this week, the defence secretary has told MPs. John Healey said the vessel, Yantar, was used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK's critical underwater infrastructure.

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The Russian spy ship was intercepted by a Royal Navy frigate, HMS Somerset, as it sailed into the channel and headed north to the North Sea. RFA Proteus, a British multi-role ocean surveillance ship, shadowed the Yantar on Tuesday, according to GPS data captured by the website MarineTraffic.

The Kremlin declined on Thursday to comment on UK accusations that a "Russian spy ship" passed through British waters, a day after London issued a warning to President Vladimir Putin.

Britain on Wednesday warned that it faced a growing threat of aggression from Russia, asserting that a Russian spy ship had passed by the English coast for the second time in three months.