Britain forces Russian ship to leave its waters, which anchored near communication cables

A Russian cargo ship anchored near important submarines in Bristol Bay, and the British military forced the vessel to leave. This was reported by the newspaper The Telegraph.

A Russian vessel was forced out of British waters by a Royal Navy attack helicopter after it anchored over transatlantic data cables.

The Sinegorsk entered Bristol Bay on Tuesday evening and apparently anchored about two miles off the town of Minehead, on the north coast of Somerset, England.

The ship's stopover was less than a mile from undersea telecommunications cables connecting Britain to the United States, Canada, Spain, and Portugal. Officials ordered the vessel to leave British waters after the Russians claimed they were carrying out necessary repairs.

Within 14 hours, an RN Wildcat helicopter was dispatched from the British base, prompting the Russian crew to raise the anchor and head back to sea.

Sinegorsk's last recorded port call was three weeks ago in Arkhangelsk, a major trade center that is also the headquarters of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.

MarineTraffic data confirmed that the cargo vessel was traveling up the Bristol Channel on Tuesday evening and stopped about two nautical miles off Minehead at around 23:00. It remained stationary, indicating that the vessel was at anchor, until around 14:00 on Wednesday.

The media noted that this vessel is not under British sanctions and is not part of the Russian "shadow fleet" used to circumvent sanctions.

Russian ships have previously been linked to attempts to interfere with underwater infrastructure. In particular, in late December, such a vessel was detained in Finland.

"We are well aware of the threat from Russia, which includes attempts to map submarine cables, networks and pipelines belonging to both Britain and our allies, and we are countering these threats. The Royal Navy constantly monitors our seas, including ensuring the security of critical infrastructure such as submarine cables and offshore installations," said a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense.

• In September 2025, it was reported that the Russian ship Yantar, which earlier in the year was recorded in British territorial waters, monitors the submarine cables in Europe.
• On November 19, Gili declared readiness for "military options" after russian ship used lasers against air force pilots.
• On December 31, it became known that in the Gulf of Finland damaged a telecommunications cable between Finland and Estonia. Police detained the ship the same day.