Putin’s warship is 30 miles off the UK

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A Russian naval ship is currently sailing 30 miles off the UK coast, close to an offshore wind farm that powers more than 400,000 homes in Britain.

The Kremlin’s Amur Class Repair Ship PM-82, a 122m floating workshop designed to maintain Vladimir Putin’s Baltic fleet of warships, is stationary around the Galloper wind farm, located off the Suffolk coastline.

Russia’s maritime threat to the UK and its European allies is growing as Putin steps up his “grey war” with the West, brazenly sailing sanctioned “shadow fleet” ships through UK waters and interfering with undersea cables in Baltic and Atlantic seas.

Last month, the head of the Royal Navy, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, warned that Britain and its allies needed the “collective combat power necessary” to deter Moscow at sea or risk a direct military confrontation.

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The repair ship’s presence so close to critical UK infrastructure on Tuesday – the second month in a row that it has been observed at the same location – has sparked a Nato monitoring mission.

Dutch Royal Navy vessel the DSS Galatea shadowed the ship’s voyage through the North Sea before circling its location on Tuesday morning as part of European allies efforts to track Putin’s fleet throughout British and European waters, The i Paper understands.

Commander Arlo Abrahamson, spokesperson for Nato’s Allied Maritime Command said the military alliance was “watching these activities closely and sharing information with our allies to assist their efforts in monitoring this vessel”.

He added: “Allied Maritime Command operates as a maritime hub for the Alliance and our objective is to enhance maritime situational awareness in waters throughout the Euro-Atlantic.”

Moscow’s repair ship is designed for the upkeep of warships and submarines, with 18 currently believed to be in the Russian Navy.

John Foreman, the UK’s former Defence attache to Moscow, said the ship may be “waiting to escort” sanctioned vessels through the region to make the “chances of UK action” to seize the illicit ships “even more remote”.

On Tuesday morning, eight sanctioned tankers suspected of aiding Moscow’s illicit oil networks traversed through the English Channel.

This included the Russian-flagged Progress. More sanctioned ships were due to pass the Russian naval vessel’s location, according to maritime data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence.

The Russian naval vessel was spotted “waiting” in the exact same spot last month, raising concerns about Putin’s targeting of UK critical infrastructure at sea.

The Galloper wind farm is a key site for the UK’s green energy ambitions, with 56 wind turbines generating enough energy to power over 400,000 homes a year.

It comes after a number of Russian Navy vessels, including a submarine, mapped UK undersea cabling in the North Sea and escorted military supplies through the English Channel last month. An Akula attack submarine and two Gugi spy submarines spent time over UK undersea infrastructure, while a Russian tanker shipped oil, supplies and spare parts for Putin’s armed forces through the English Channel, escorted by a Russian warship.

In January, the UK strengthened its legal position to detain sanctioned Russian ships near its waters and on 25 March, Sir Keir Starmer authorised military personnel to carry out forced boardings.

While ministers insist Britain is prepared to act against Putin’s illicit oil trade, tankers sanctioned by the Foreign Office for fuelling Russia’s war in Ukraine, thus termed as the “shadow fleet”, have continued to pass near UK shores.

In announcing new powers for the military to seize suspect vessels in January, Keir Starmer said Putin should be in “no doubt” that “we’re going after his shadow fleet even harder”.

Since then, dozens of sanctioned ships – many forming part of Russia’s Shadow Fleet – have traversed through the Channel without challenge. More than 300 sanctioned or suspect Russian-linked ships have transited the waterway on the UK’s coastline this year, revealing a sophisticated network designed to keep oil, parts and supplies flowing despite Western sanctions.

Meanwhile, European allies are stepping-up. The Swedish Coast Guard seized a suspected shadow fleet tanker in the Baltic Sea on Sunday, the fifth such action this year.

The Syrian-flagged ​Jin Hui was boarded while it traversed Swedish territorial waters after an investigation into its lack ​of seaworthiness, The Swedish Coast Guard said in a ​statement.

“The coast guard suspects that the ship is sailing ​under a false flag, given there are a number of irregularities concerning its flag status, and therefore does not meet demands for ​seaworthiness as set out in international regulations and agreements,” ​it said.

The i Paper has approached the Ministry of Defence for comment.

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