Russian Shadow Fleet Vessel Leruo

Earl Russell Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Earl Russell (LD)]

My Lords, as the NATO and British authorities have now found more than 500 instances of Russian fishing vessels having tracked our critical undersea energy and telecommunications infrastructure, what further thought and actions are the Government taking with our allies to provide further deterrence to these unwanted activities?

[Lord Wood of Anfield (Lab)]

The noble Earl raises a vital aspect of hybrid warfare. It is fair to say that anyone who is following European politics, British politics and national politics across the European continent will know that there has been not just a strong, galvanised effort in the last two or three months to focus on hybrid attacks, including the challenge of undersea cables and the particular dependence we have on certain undersea cables, but a strong attempt—which I am proud to say the UK is leading—on sharing information across countries. President von der Leyen recently talked about the need to develop a Europe-wide capacity on disinformation, but also on hybrid threats. We are working closely with our European allies on these things.