“We have military options ready.” London threatens retaliation after Russian spy ship points lasers at RAF jets / Message to Putin: “We see you, we know what you're doing”

British Defense Secretary John Healey said on Wednesday that “military options” are ready should the Russian spy ship Yantar become a threat after it entered British territorial waters and pointed lasers at surveillance planes sent to monitor it, Reuters, The Guardian and BBC News write.

The British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force (RAF) regularly monitor potential threats to national security, and such missions to monitor Russian ships and submarines have become more frequent since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Healey said pointing lasers at RAF pilots was “extremely dangerous” and that Britain was prepared to react depending on the Yantar's next move.

“We have military options ready should Yantar change course. I will not reveal them because that would only make President Putin wiser,” the British minister said.

Responding to what it described as “endless accusations”, the Russian embassy in London said: “Our country's actions do not affect the interests of the United Kingdom and are not aimed at undermining its security.”

“We are not interested in British underwater communications,” the embassy said, urging “the British side to refrain from destructive measures that aggravate the phenomenon of the crisis on the European continent.”

In a speech at Downing Street, Healey said:

• “The Russian spy ship Yantar is currently at the edge of British territorial waters, north of Scotland, after entering British territorial waters in recent weeks. This is a vessel designed to gather information and map our submarine cables.
• We sent a Royal Navy frigate and RAF P-8s to monitor and track this ship's every move, during which the Yantar pointed lasers at our pilots. This action by Russia is extremely dangerous and this is the second time this year that the Yantar has been sent into UK territorial waters. So my message to Russia and to Putin is this: we see you, we know what you're doing, but if Yantar goes south this week, we're ready.”
• Any action that impedes, disrupts or endangers the pilots in charge of British military aircraft is extremely dangerous. This is the first time Yantar has taken such action against the British RAF forces – we take it very seriously.
• We have modified the Navy's rules of engagement so that we can more closely track and monitor the activities of the Yantar when it is in our territorial waters.“

The British minister also claimed that the ship is part of a Russian program called the “Main Directorate of Oceanographic Research”, designed to have capabilities that can carry out “surveillance operations in peacetime and sabotage in times of conflict”.