UK says it deployed military to deter Russian submarines from attack on undersea cables

LONDON — Britain deployed military vessels to prevent any attacks on cables and pipelines by Russian submarines which spent more than a month in and around British waters earlier this year, its defense minister John Healey said on Thursday. Britain accused Russia of using the distraction of events in the Middle East to try to conduct the covert operation in the High North maritime region, home to key shipping routes and critical infrastructure such as undersea cables. Healey said British forces and allies including Norway tracked and deterred malign activity by the Russian vessels, adding that the submarines had now left the area and there were no signs of damage to underwater infrastructure. Revealing the operation publicly at a press conference, Healey said the intent was to show Russian President Vladimir Putin the activity had been detected. “To President Putin, I say ‘We see you. We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines, and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences,’” he said. “Our armed forces left them in no doubt that they were being monitored, that their movements were not covert, as President Putin planned, and that their attempted secret operation had been exposed.” Russia’s embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscow has previously denied allegations of involvement in a serious of incidents in which European countries’ cables were damaged. Healey said t…