What the Russian spy ship exposed

Britain is heavily dependent on its underwater infrastructure. Ninety-nine per cent of our digital communications overseas are carried through subsea fibre optic cables.

Significant damage to them at the hands of malign actors would jeopardise our way of life. Defence Secretary John Healey reported to parliament on an incident last November when a Russian spy ship, Yantar, was detected ‘loitering over UK critical undersea infrastructure’ off Cornwall, a chokepoint for trans-Atlantic underwater communications. After the rapid deployment of ships, aircraft and submarines by Britain, Yantar took the hint to leave and is now, after a spell in the Mediterranean, on her war back home with the Royal Navy closely monitoring her movements.

Russian mischief is not new. The Soviet Union invested heavily in capabilities to sabotage Nato’s critical infrastructure (just as the UK cut the copper telegraph lines connecting Germany to the United States at the start of the first world war).