Putin sends fishing trawlers to spy on Britain

Analysis by The Telegraph found 500+ incidents of Russian trawlers loitering over or trailing subsea fibre-optic cables linking Britain, Europe and the US. The pattern suggests they are mapping precise cable locations, which could allow attacks that disrupt critical services. Attacks require exact seabed positions.

Global Fishing Watch data showed 17 ships spending prolonged low-speed periods near charted cables. Boats spent hundreds of hours over a major cable north of Scotland.