Last week a Russian spy ship was spotted off the coast of the UK. The Royal Navy was sent to closely monitor the vessel as it passed through British waters. It’s the latest in a series of incidents across Europe, some culminating in catastrophic damage to critical underwater cables. So what is Russia trying to achieve? And what are the UK and NATO doing about it?

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: George Grylls, Defence Correspondent, The Times.

Host: Manveen Rana.

Producer: Olivia Case.

Further reading: Nato’s underwater war against Russian and Chinese cable-cutters

Clips: The Times and The Sunday Times, parliamentlive.tv, Bloomberg.

Photo: Times Photographer Richard Pohle.

Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

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