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Britain’s defense minister warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that “we will not shy away from strong action” after parliament was told that a Russian spy ship was operating in UK waters on second time since November.

John Healey said the Russian spy ship, Yantar, was tracked in the English Channel by a warship after wandering around critical undersea infrastructure. A Royal Navy submarine surfaced near Yantar to warn that its every move was being watched, he said.

“Let me clarify, this is a Russian spy ship used for intelligence gathering and mapping of critical underwater infrastructure in the UK,” Healey told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

“My message to President Putin is clear,” he said. “We know what you are doing and we will not shy away from strong action to protect Britain.”

“We will continue to call out the destructive activity ordered by Putin, which is destroying Russia’s shadow fleet,” Healey added.

The Yantar, which means amber in Russian, has now left the Strait of Dover and is in Dutch waters, Healey said.

It was spotted off the UK coast in November, when it sailed into the Mediterranean, returning to the Channel this week. As the Royal Navy submarine warned this week, it was surrounded by the frigate HMS Somerset and HMS Tyne, a patrol vessel.

Nato allies have stepped up surveillance of critical maritime infrastructure to protect it against sabotage attempts after several power lines and data cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged recently.

Three ships have damaged the Baltic’s underwater cables and pipelines in the past 15 months, all by dragging their anchors along the seabed.

Finland used a helicopter last month to board and seize the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-registered tanker suspected of sabotage while it was carrying oil from Russia to Egypt.

The UK has not been required to take similar action, although Healey said he had relaxed rules of naval engagement so British warships could approach suspicious vessels to check what they were doing.

“Like the surface of the submarine (it) specifically prevents and discourages the type of activity that we don’t want to see in our waters,” Healey said.

He added that if there was any need to intercept a suspicious vessel the UK would “certainly be ready to act”.

Increased western surveillance of suspicious Russian activity is the latest in a series of Nato-sponsored actions designed to strengthen the military alliance after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the subsequent acts of sabotage against many countries.

Last week, Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of NATO announced a new mission called Baltic Sentry to monitor underwater infrastructure. Consisting of drones, submarines, ships and aircraft, the UK has also activated an AI-assisted computer system to help monitor key areas of interest.