Defence Secretary John Healey says three Russian submarines carried out a "covert" operation above cables and pipelines in the Atlantic, north of the UK, lasting longer than a month

In a Downing Street news conference, Healey says he deployed a warship and aircraft in response, and the Russian vessels were "monitored 24/7"

He says there is "no evidence" of any damage to UK infrastructure in the Atlantic

And in a message to Vladimir Putin, he says: "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"

This is not the first time the UK has accused Russia of spying close to critical undersea cables, writes Jonathan Beale, but this appears to be a more sophisticated and clandestine Russian operation

Earlier this year, the BBC looked at the Russian threat to British cables - read the InDepth piece here. You can also see our map of crucial cables and pipelines around the UK here

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