Britain’s invisible lifelines, the internet cables and gas pipelines lying quietly on the seabed, may already be in the sights of Russia’s most secretive naval unit, the head of the Royal Navy has warned.
General Sir Gwyn Jenkins has issued a stark alert that Moscow’s elite deep-sea sabotage force is once again operational and could be deployed into waters critical to the UK’s security. The unit, capable of operating at extreme depths, is believed to have the power to carry out what he described as “physical action” against vital undersea infrastructure.
At the centre of the concern is Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, known as GUGI, a shadowy organisation tasked with mapping and potentially sabotaging seabed cables and pipelines that keep Britain and its NATO allies connected and powered.
Sir Gwyn revealed that after a period of setbacks, Russia has renewed investment in the programme. “We’ve seen GUGI’s subsurface capabilities restarting,” he said. “We know that they’ve had some issues with that programme. It appears that they have reset that programme. So we’re expecting them to deploy again.”
The warning underscores growing unease in Whitehall over Russia’s expanding underwater reach. According to Sir Gwyn, GUGI’s specialist submariners and mini-submersibles can operate at crushing depths, giving the Kremlin increasingly dangerous options. “Russia’s underwater capability is improving all the time,” he warned.
For years, the unit’s activities were shrouded in secrecy, with UK naval leaders reluctant even to acknowledge its existence. But mounting evidence has dragged it into the open.
Russia’s deep-sea ambitions suffered a major blow in 2019, when 14 senior officers were killed in a catastrophic fire aboard the deep-diving submarine Losharik during a mysterious Arctic mission east of Norway. Despite that setback, and the enormous cost of the war in Ukraine, Sir Gwyn said Moscow has continued to pour money into GUGI.
Concerns intensified this year after investigators revealed that Yantar, a Russian spy ship linked to the unit, had been loitering over cables connecting the UK and Ireland. Moscow insists the vessel is merely a research ship, despite its ability to deploy submersibles capable of diving to depths of up to 6,000 metres.
While Sir Gwyn declined to specify what “physical action” might look like, defence experts have long warned that cables could be severed or explosives planted at key junctions on the seabed.
“You have an aggressive regime with an acknowledged capability, an acknowledged desire to implement sabotage and transition towards points of tension,” he said. “And you have a facility that enables them to go to depths with submersibles on mapped infrastructure that is sensitive to us. That doesn’t seem like a good combination to me.”
In response to the growing threat, the Royal Navy has announced a new defence pact with Norway, a key ally in monitoring Russian vessels entering European waters through the strategic GIUK gap between Greenland, Iceland and the UK.
The Navy has also unveiled £4million worth of contracts for a new underwater surveillance system, known as Atlantic Bastion, which will use acoustic sensors and autonomous vessels to detect hostile activity beneath the waves. A further £35million is expected next year, although funding is still being negotiated between the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury.
Ministers have already been warned that Britain may struggle to prevent attacks on undersea cables, or repair them quickly, despite the creation of a new oversight board. Some defence experts argue Atlantic Bastion should be reinforced with long-range strike weapons to deter sudden Russian submarine “surges” from Arctic bases.
Sir Gwyn stressed the danger is neither distant nor theoretical. “We effectively do have a border with Russia,” he said. “It’s the open seas to our north, and any complacency that somehow we have eastern Europe between us and that threat is a misplaced complacency.”
He added that Britain must take the risk seriously, warning that the comfort drawn from being an island is “a false comfort.”
Tensions flared last month when Yantar reportedly shone lasers at RAF aircraft as it approached British waters near Shetland, prompting a rare public rebuke from the Ministry of Defence. Defence Secretary John Healey warned the UK had “military options ready” if such behaviour continued.
Sir Gwyn said the incident highlighted the danger of miscalculation. “There is no way for us to tell whether that is somebody who’s drunk too much vodka on the Yantar and decides to shine his laser,” he said, “or whether it’s a deliberate provocative act designed to test our response.”
His comments come amid growing alarm from Britain’s intelligence and military leadership. MI6 chief Blaise Metreweli has accused Russia of “testing” the UK through sabotage, cyber attacks and drone harassment, while senior armed forces figures have warned Moscow wants to “challenge, limit, divide and ultimately destroy NATO”.
Healey summed up the mood bluntly: “We are living in a new era of threat which is less predictable and more dangerous.” “We see the threat that Russia poses to our nation. They are mapping our undersea cables, our networks and our pipelines, and those of our allies.”
Atlantic Bastion, he said, would be designed to “detect, deter and defeat those who threaten us.”
