Britain ready for 'military options' against Russian spy ship – Healy

The United Kingdom is ready for "military options" after a Russian ship used lasers against Royal Air Force pilots. This is stated in a statement by the British Defense Secretary John Healy, the agency quoted Reuters.

The defense chief said that "military options" are ready to be used if the Russian Yantar spy ship becomes a threat, after the vessel directed lasers at British pilots sent to monitor it.

The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (RAF) regularly monitor potential threats to national security, and such missions to observe Russian ships and submarines have become more frequent since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Healey said that pointing lasers at the pilots was "very dangerous" and the UK was ready to respond depending on the ship's next move.

"We have military options in case Yantar changes course," the minister added.

"The Yantar is designed to collect intelligence and map submarine cables, and is currently on the edge of British waters, north of Scotland, he said.

"This is the first time that Yantar has taken such actions against the British Air Force. We take this extremely seriously," the minister emphasized.

The minister noted that he had changed the rules of engagement in the navy so that "we can more closely monitor and control the actions of the Yantar when it is in our waters."

• In September, it was reported that the Russian ship Yantar, which earlier this year was recorded in British territorial waters, monitors the submarine cables in Europe.
• In October, a Royal Navy destroyer and helicopter were involved in a 48-hour NATO operations to monitor a Russian warship in British waters.