British Defense Secretary John Healy told parliament on Wednesday that the Royal Navy was tracking a “Russian spy ship” that had passed through British waters, warning Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We know what you're doing.”

Haley said the Yantar vessel “is being used to collect reconnaissance data and map the UK's critical underwater infrastructure”.

“I also wanted President Putin to hear this message. we see you, we know what you're doing, and we will not shy away from serious action to protect this country,” he told lawmakers.

The ship entered British waters about 45 miles off the country's coast on Monday, and the Royal Navy sent two ships to monitor it, Healy said.

“It has been found to be wandering over the UK's most important underwater infrastructure,” the defense secretary said.

He added that the ship was now in the North Sea, having “passed through British waters”.

Healey said the Royal Navy submarine was authorized to appear near Yantar “strictly as a deterrent” and “to make it clear that we are secretly watching her every move”. BBC News reports.

Healey said it was the second time Yantar had been spotted in British waters recently, after it was also spotted in November.

British warships have tracked Russian naval vessels several times in recent months.

Earlier this month The Royal Navy has revealed that in late December the frigate HMS Somerset had followed a Russian naval group as it sailed from the North Sea to the English Channel, although the group remained in international waters.

in november British planes are shot down to monitor a Russian spy plane flying close to UK airspace, just days later NATO planes have been mobilized when Russian planes were spotted off the coast of the Baltic Sea and Norway.

In September last year, Royal Navy warships spent a week “closely shadowing” four Russian ships in UK waters, while two Royal Air Force jets attempted to intercept two Russian jets operating near the UK, the navy said in a press release.

Also in September, the US Coast Guard said it tracked a A group of ships of the Russian Navyincluding two submarines as they crossed US waters off Alaska in an apparent attempt to avoid sea ice.

A month earlier, a US Coast Guard officer conducted a routine patrol in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. encountered a Russian ship in international waters, but in the US exclusive economic zone.