London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Russian submarines are 'constantly circling Britain's entire coastline'

Russian submarines are 'constantly circling Britain's entire coastline'

Russia is currently Britain’s ‘number one adversary threat’, the Defence Secretary has warned.

Ben Wallace said Vladimir Putin’s submarines are constantly circling the UK’s coastline while Moscow has been carrying out ‘a number of operations deliberately aimed at Britain’.

At least nine Russian vessels were spotted off the UK late last year, he added.

He told the Telegraph: ‘We’re regularly visited by nosy Russian ships, and we are regularly visited now by a number of Russian warships.

‘We have tried de-escalation, we have tried methods but at the moment until Russia changes its attitude, it’s quite hard to see where we’re going to go. This is a country that killed someone in Salisbury.’

At least 150 Russian ships or submarines have been picked up by UK radar since 2013.

A kilo class sub was seen in the Irish Sea at the end of 2020, something the UK has not seen ‘for a very, very long time’, according to Mr Wallace.



Russian President Vladimir Putin has been branded the UK’s ‘number one adversary threat’ by the Defence Secretary


Mr Wallace made the comments in Portsmouth, where the HMS Queen Elizabeth was setting off on her 26,000-mile maiden voyage to the Far East, where it will visit 40 countries before arriving in Japan.

According to Mr Wallace, the carrier will act as a ‘convener and projection’ of Britain’s ‘soft power’.

He said: ‘It is where hard and soft power meet, where the rubber hits the road. So, going to the Pacific shows that we can operate 8,000 miles away.

‘It shows that our friends like Japan – with common values, democracy, open economies – that we have that common link and that we can operate together, because the biggest strength is people who share our values. We have alliances and we have friends.’

Ben Wallace said submarines from Moscow are constantly circling British shores


It comes after General Sir Patrick Sanders said this week that Britain had taken its ‘eye off the ball’ with Russia and had ‘let its guard down’ following the Cold War.

The head of Britain’s Strategic Command said cyber attacks and espionage aimed at the UK and its allies were also soaring.

Putin warned its adversaries on Thursday that Russia would ‘knock their teeth out’ if they attempted to stop its development or ‘bite something off us’.

During a call with Kremlin officials, he said: ‘In all times, the same thing happened: once Russia grew stronger, they found pretexts to hamper its development.

‘Everyone wants to bite us or bite something off us, but those who would like to do so should know that we would knock their teeth out so that they couldn’t bite.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×