Reports over the weekend say the Yantar intelligence-gathering vessel was flying drones in the area
The Guardian newspaper, among others, has reported a Russian spy ship has been escorted out of the Irish Sea. It had allegedly entered Irish-controlled waters and patrolled an area containing critical energy and internet submarine pipelines and cables.
The vessel was first seen last Thursday east of Dublin and south-west of the Isle of Man. Apparently Norwegian, US, French and British navy and air defence services initially observed it accompanying a Russian warship, the Admiral Golovko, through the English channel the weekend of 9-10 November.
This weekend the UK’s Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said at that Ukraine would be “top of the agenda” at the G20 conference which takes place this week in Brazil. It is attended by the leaders of the world’s richest and most powerful nations. Russia will be represented by its Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
The Irish navy ship the LÉ James Joyce escorted it from the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ) at about 3am last Friday, 15 November, with the air corps continuing to monitor its activities after it headed south.
Concerns about subsea cables
The ship’s presence has again highlighted concerns about the sabotage of subsea cables by terrorists or state-backed forces. The cables that run between Ireland and the UK carry global internet traffic from the huge data centres operated in Ireland by the likes of Google and Microsoft, both of which have their European headquarters in the country too.
The sighting of the Russian intelligence ship came as British defence forces monitored other Russian vessels near its eastern coastal waters, says The Guardian. On Thursday, British jets were scrambled to monitor a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying close to UK airspace, the Ministry of Defence said.
Looking for clues
The ship was also seen on Monday and Tuesday west of Cork, where there are another set of connectors between Ireland and France, some with transatlantic interconnections. The Irish Times [subscription needed] reported the ship operating three drones in Irish waters. At one point the Yantar was was 3.1 to 4.3 miles north of the cables connecting Ireland and the UK.
The Yantar is officially an auxiliary general oceanographic research vessel with underwater rescue equipment, separate from Russia’s navy. It has deep-diving submersibles on board and drones.
The consensus seems to be this outing was about collecting intelligence rather than inflicting damage.
Irish and British defence forces have worked together since the vessels entered waters off the coast of the UK with a significant multinational operation put in place.
The British navy handed surveillance over to the French as it left of the English channel.