00:07Today I'm revealing details of a recent military operation undertaken by Russia and in doing so
00:14I'm doing this to expose the continuing Russian activity that threatens us in the UK
00:20and to highlight our constant readiness to respond.
00:25In the last few weeks, while the eyes of many were trained on the Middle East, the UK, in partnership
00:33with Norway and other allies,
00:35have responded to increased Russian activity in the Atlantic, north of the UK.
00:42This operation involved a Russian Akula-class attack submarine and a concurrent deployment of two specialist submarines from Gugi.
00:52That's Russia's main directorate for deep sea research.
00:57And last November I outlined how these Gugi units, including the spy ship Yantar, are vessels directed by President Putin
01:06to conduct hybrid warfare activities against the UK and our allies, specifically around critical undersea infrastructure.
01:25In response to the Russian submarines, I can confirm that I deployed our armed forces to track and to deter
01:32any malign activity by these vessels.
01:35A Royal Navy warship and Royal Air Force P-8 aircraft, alongside allies, ensured that the Russian submarines were monitored
01:4624-7.
01:48The Akula submarine subsequently retreated home, having been closely tracked throughout,
01:54and we continue to monitor the two Gugi submarines in and around wider UK waters.
02:12Our armed forces left them in no doubt that they were being monitored,
02:16that their movements were not covert, as President Putin planned,
02:20and that their attempted secret operation had been exposed.
02:25Those Gugi submarines have now left UK waters and headed back north.
02:30And this operation, which lasted more than a month, has now concluded.
02:46And I'm making this statement to call out this Russian activity.
02:51And to President Putin, I say,
02:53We see you, we see you, we see your activity over our cables and our pipelines,
02:59and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.
03:08This also reminds us why the seabed matters, especially for Britain.
03:15We're an island nation, connection is everything, for our economy and for our security.
03:22And beneath our waters lies a vast network of cables and pipelines on which our way of life depends.
03:28Half the gas that heats our homes, 99% of international telecoms and data traffic,
03:35trillions of pounds of global trade each day.
03:38And for all the reasons that make the seabed matter so much to us are the reasons that make it
03:45the prime target for our adversaries.
03:48The UK's undersea network is highly resilient, but the threats are increasing.
03:53And so we're stepping up our action to defend it.
04:02We're confident, and we've got no evidence, that any damage has been done to the cables or pipelines.
04:10The UK has one of the most resilient undersea networks of any nation,
04:16with inbuilt contingencies if there are damage,
04:20but we will ensure that with allies that we will verify the state of our infrastructure
04:29now that the Russian submarines have been seen off and that they're heading north back to their base.
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