YANTAR

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Russian spy ship monitored off Tunisia

An American Boeing P-8A and an Italian ATR P-72A are conducting observations of the 'Yantar' off the coast of Tunisia. For several days, the aircraft have been conducting intensive observation missions near the southern coast of Sicily and the northern coast of Tunisia. The purpose of these activities is to track the Russian spy ship. The analysis of the aircraft's movements and speeds rules out the presence of Russian submarines in the area. The ATR P-72A cannot detect such units, further confirming these assumptions. The 'Yantar' was previously observed near an American base in Georgia and in the Irish Sea, where its presence raised concerns. Currently, its activities in the Mediterranean Sea are being monitored due to potential threats related to the sabotage of underwater infrastructure. The vessel had left Alexandria on Jan 3, 2025.

Russian espionage vessel intercepted while crossing Strait of Gibraltar

On Nov 25, the 'Yantar' was intercepted while crossing the Strait of Gibraltar towards the Mediterranean, which heightened concerns in Europe about espionage activities near critical infrastructure. This ship, officially classified as an "oceanographic research vessel", has been the subject of increasing attention since it began to carry out maneuvers in strategic waters of Europe after leaving from the port of Severodvinsk. It is equipped with advanced spy technology and has the ability to deploy mini-submarines that can dive to depths of more than 6,000 metersm, allowing it to operate near undersea cables, vital infrastructure for global telecommunications and international finance, which has raised alarms about possible espionage activities in the submarine communication networks that connect Europe with North America. The ship was first spotted in the Irish Sea on Nov 15, when Irish authorities escorted it out of their waters after it was detected near submarine cables key to international communications. Its presence in this area was especially disturbing given that days earlier, an underwater cable between Finland and Germany suffered a rupture, which increased speculation about a possible link to the ship's operations. Throughout its journey, the 'Yantar' has been closely monitored by British naval forces, who suspected it could be involved in espionage missions related to telecommunications cables and other strategic infrastructure. The 'Yantar' continued its journey south, being reported in Portuguese waters days after its passage through the Irish Sea, before reaching the Strait of Gibraltar. Its route now takes it towards Algeria, where it is expected to arrive on Nov 27.

Russian spy ship escorted away from critical infrastructure

Te 'Yantar' was seen operating drones in an area containing subsea energy and internet infrastructure and has been escorted out of the Irish Sea after it entered Irish-controlled waters and patrolled an area containing critical energy and internet submarine pipelines and cables.´It was spotted on Nov 14 east of Dublin and southwest of the Isle of Man, but Norwegian, US, French and British Navy and air defence services initially observed it accompanying the Russian warship 'Admiral Golovko' through the English Channel last weekend. The patrol vessel 'LÉ James Joyce' escorted the spy ship out of the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Nov 15 at about 3 a.m. with the air corps continuing to monitor its movements as it headed south. Its presence has raised fresh concerns about the security of the interconnector cables that run between Ireland and the UK carrying global internet traffic from huge datacentres operated by tech companies including Google and Microsoft, which have their EU headquarters sited in Ireland. The sighting of the Russian intelligence ship came as British defence forces monitored other Russian vessels near its eastern coastal waters. On Nov 14, British jets were also scrambled to monitor a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying close to UK airspace- The ship was also spotted on Nov 11 and 12 west of Cork, where there are another set of connectors between Ireland and France, some offering transatlantic interconnection. At one point it was positioned just inside the Irish EEZ, 3.1 to 4.3 miles north of the cables connecting Ireland and the UK.