To the question in the BBC One Sunday program, whether he objects to these statements, Kelin answered negatively
“I'm not going to deny it, but I am wondering if we are really interested in surveillance of all British submarines with very old, outdated nuclear warheads,” he said.
At the same time, Kelin said that the threat from the Russian Federation is “greatly exaggerated”.
“I deny the existence of threats to the United Kingdom. This threat was invented, absolutely, there is no threat from Russia for the UK,” the ambassador said.
Kelin’s statement followed the investigation published by Sunday Times in early April, which describes the detection of Russian sensors in the seas around the UK. The publication said that the devices were supposedly installed by Moscow to collect intelligence information about four British Vanguard submarines equipped with nuclear missiles. The British military discovered the existence of these devices and considered them a potential threat to national security, the publication said.
Context
In 2023, the media reported the alarms of European countries in connection with possible preparation of the Russian Federation for sabotage. According to scouts and experts, the Russian military compose a map of wind power plants, gas pipelines, communication cables in the waters around Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. According to the sources, the goal is to plan a sabotage against the countries of Northern Europe, including cutting the cables of power and data transfer through the Atlantic and to the rest of Europe.
The head of the Dutch military intelligence, General Jan Svillens, said that Russia has an extensive program, probably aimed at sabotage of sea wind power plants, gas pipelines and power cables in European waters, the publication reported NL Times.
In April 2024, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands signed joint protection agreement Underwater infrastructure of the North Sea.
On June 30, The Times wrote that NATO suspects Russia of mining of critical infrastructure In the North Sea.
