The Telegraph reported that over 500 incidents have been identified where Russian trawlers were detected near or moving along the routes of communication cables connecting Britain, Europe, and the US. Journalists analyzed four and a half years of vessel tracking data from Global Fishing Watch, highlighting 17 vessels that moved slowly near mapped cables.

NATO is monitoring these civilian vessels due to suspicions they are being used for intelligence gathering on underwater infrastructure, The Telegraph reported. The recorded routes may indicate reconnaissance, but do not in themselves prove preparations for sabotage. The head of the House of Commons defense committee stated that Russian ships and submarines are mapping critical infrastructure and highlighted the British fleet's limited capacity to protect it.