Mike Baker

And here on the PDB, we've discussed how the Kremlin targets undersea infrastructure as part of a broader hybrid warfare strategy against the West.

Now, here's what London did in response.

Healy says a Royal Navy warship and Royal Air Force P-8 surveillance aircraft working alongside allies tracked these submarines around the clock for weeks.

And it wasn't some passive monitoring.

The UK military dropped sonar buoys into the water, sending a clear signal to the Russians that they've been detected and whatever they thought was covert was no longer covert.

and Healey wanted to make sure that message landed.

In his press conference, the British Defense Secretary issued a direct warning to Moscow, saying, quote, we see you over our cables and our pipelines, and making clear that any attempt to damage that infrastructure, quote, will not be tolerated.

Healy then made clear that London views Moscow's posture as, quote, the primary threat to Britain and to NATO.

It's important to understand when this operation took place.

British officials say all of this unfolded while the world's attention was, of course, fixed on the Middle East, as the U.S.

and Israel carried out strikes on Iran.

And Healy made clear that he believes that was intentional, that Moscow was likely betting the West would be distracted.

So, Healy is framing this as part of a broader escalation in Russian activity targeting NATO infrastructure.

Just last year, the Russian spy ship Yantar carried out sustained operations around UK waters, including a 13-month stretch of monitoring key infrastructure nodes.

To be clear, there's no indication that any cables or pipelines were actually damaged during this latest Russian operation, unlike what we've seen in the Baltic Sea from Russia's Shadow Fleet.

But that almost makes this more concerning, because what this looks like is reconnaissance, the kind of activity you carry out when you're preparing options, not necessarily executing them, mapping out infrastructure, testing defenses, perhaps testing new technology.

And while these submarines have since retreated north, the questions for the UK military and intel services are what information was the Kremlin trying to collect?

And how might that information be used in the future?

And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Thursday, the 9th of April.

Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com.