Britain warns Russia after spy ship comes close to its waters: “We are ready”

London — Britain warned Russia on Wednesday that it was ready to deal with any incursions into its territory after the spy ship Yantar was detected on the edge of U.K. waters north of Scotland.

Defense Secretary John Healey said the Russian vessel had directed lasers at pilots of surveillance aircraft monitoring its activities.

“This is the first time we’ve had this action from Yantar directed against the British RAF. We take it extremely seriously,” Healey said, according to the Reuters news agency.

“My message to Russia and to Putin is this: We see you. We know what you’re doing,” Healey said during a briefing in London. “And if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready.”

“We have military options ready should the Yantar change course,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

British officials said the Yantar is part of the Russian navy, designed to conduct surveillance in peacetime and sabotage during times of war. Because of this, the U.K. and its allies track the ship and work to deter its operations whenever it approaches British territorial waters.

“It is part of a Russian fleet designed to put and hold our undersea infrastructure and those of our allies at risk,” Healey said, referencing attacks on pipelines and cables under the Baltic Sea earlier this year.

This isn’t the first time the Yantar has probed Britain’s defenses, Healey said. After a warning last year, the Yantar left U.K. waters for the Mediterranean. When the Russian ship later sailed through the English Channel in January, it was followed by HMS Somerset, a frigate assigned to homeland defense in the waters around Britain.