While the world was watching Iran, Putin sent submarines to map our undersea cables
Britain today revealed a month-long secret operation: three Russian submarines - one Akula-class attack sub and two specialist vessels from GUGI, Russia's Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research - spent weeks operating over critical undersea infrastructure in the North Atlantic.
The timing was deliberate. The Russian operation ran while international attention was locked on the Iran war. UK Defence Secretary John Healey addressed Putin directly at a Downing Street press conference today: "We see you. We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines. Any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences."
What GUGI actually does: these aren't normal submarines. They're purpose-built to map underwater infrastructure during peacetime - cables, pipelines, the physical backbone of the internet and European energy supply, so Russia can sabotage it in a conflict. The UK released satellite images of the GUGI base for the first time today.
The operation involved over 5,000 British personnel working with Norway and other allies around the clock. The Akula sub was used as a decoy to draw attention while the two GUGI vessels went to work elsewhere. British forces caught on, tracked all three, and forced them to abandon the mission without causing damage.
Britain has now announced £100 million in additional funding for submarine-hunting aircraft and launched "Atlantic Bastion" a new hybrid naval force combining AI, autonomous vessels and warships specifically to protect undersea infrastructure.
Undersea cables carry the vast majority of global internet traffic. There are currently 119 new cables planned globally, up from 66 in 2020. The more dependent we become on this infrastructure, the more valuable a target it is.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-tracked-russian-submarines-north-atlantic-month-2026-04-09/