During a press conference in April 2026, UK Defence Secretary John Healey announced the UK Armed Forces had monitored a month-long Russian spying mission in the North Atlantic. This came after an announcement in March that the UK would begin seizing sanctioned Russian commercial ships in UK waters.
Detailing the submarine mission, Healey claimed that Russian submarines spent a month near the UK as part of a spying operation. The defence minister was able to confirm that one of the submarines was an Akula-class hunter killer, while the other two were associated with GUGI, Russia’s state-owned deep sea research organisation. GUGI submarines are designated as ‘special purpose’, modified with equipment to map seabed infrastructure such as oil and gas pipelines, and fibre optic cables.
No damage was inflicted to the UK’s or allied infrastructure during the operation, but the Russian submarines certainly will have gathered valuable intelligence should they decide to cause disruption in the future. Russia has sabotaged the seabed infrastructure of several NATO countries since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
This latest Russian submarine activity was tracked by warships and aircraft from the UK, Norway and other NATO allies. Anti-submarine warfare frigate HMS St Albans and a supporting tanker were deployed to track the submarines along with several Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flying from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray. The Russian submarines subsequently returned to their bases in the Kola Peninsula, deep in the Arctic Circle. Along with the press release, the Ministry of Defence released a European Union satellite image of Russia’s Olenya Guba Naval Base, home to GUGI submarines and spy ships.
Tensions between the UK and Russia have become increasingly heightened in recent years, with Russian spy ship Yantar shining a laser at an RAF Poseidon aircraft in the North Sea last November. As international attention turned to the Middle East, the UK announced it would begin seizing sanctioned Russian Shadow Fleet tankers passing through its waters. This was designed to increase pressure on Russia’s economy as it continues its war in Ukraine.
So far, several Shadow Fleet vessels have diverted around the North of Scotland, rather than risking seizure in the English Channel. A Russian frigate escorted several Shadow Fleet tankers through the Channel in April, but the Russian Navy simply lacks the ships required to escort all of its Shadow Fleet vessels. Due to the timeline of the Russian submarine operation, it is unlikely it was launched in response to threat to its Shadow Fleet, however it is possible Russia will increase its grey-zone operations against the UK.
Despite promising to increase defence spending to 2.5% with plans for future increase to 3%, the UK Government is yet to give an actual increase in funds. In addition, the UK’s defence procurement is largely frozen due to the increasingly delayed Defence Investment Plan, which was due to be released last year following the vague Strategic Defence Review. Former officials have argued that defence investment needs to rise soon, as the world becomes increasingly volatile.
