Russian spy ship found off UK as British official warns Putin: “We know what you're doing”

British Defense Secretary John Healey told Parliament on Wednesday that the Royal Navy was monitoring a “Russian spy ship” that passed through UK waters, warning Russian President Vladimir Putin: ” We know what you are doing. “

Healey said the Yantar vessel “was being used to gather intelligence and map the UK's critical underwater infrastructure.”

“I also wanted President Putin to hear this message: We see you, we know what you are doing and we will not shy away from strong action to protect this country,” he told lawmakers.

The ship entered British waters on Monday about 45 miles off the country's coast, with the Royal Navy sending two ships in to monitor it, Healey said.

“It has been found crossing critical UK undersea infrastructure,” the defense minister said.

He said the ship was now in the North Sea, “having passed through British waters.”

Healey said the Royal Navy submarine was allowed to approach the Yantar “strictly as a deterrent” and “to make it clear that we have been keeping a close eye on every movement,” BBC News reported.

Healey said it was the second time the Yantar had been spotted in British waters recently, having also been spotted in November.

British warships have tracked Russian naval vessels several times in recent months.

Earlier this month, the The Royal Navy appeared that at the end of December the frigate HMS Somerset had tracked a Russian naval group as they sailed from the North Sea to the English Channel, although the group had remained in international waters.

In November, British jets were destroyed to track a Russian demonstration aircraft flying close to UK airspace, just days later NATO jets were deployed when Russian aircraft were seen over the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Norway.

Last September, Royal Navy warships spent a week “closely shadowing” four Russian ships in UK waters, while two Royal Air Force jets scrambled to stop was sent to two Russian aircraft operating near the UK, the navy said in a press release.

Also in September, the US Coast Guard said it found a a group of Russian naval vesselsincluding two submarines, as they crossed US waters off Alaska in an apparent attempt to avoid sea ice.

The month before, a US Coast Guard cutter on a routine patrol around the Aleutian Islands in Alaska he came across a Russian ship in international waters but within the US exclusive economic zone.