Russia continues to invest heavily in its Northern Fleet despite years of ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the United Kingdom’s top naval officer said on Tuesday, noting that Moscow’s aggressive posture is a significant challenge for Western powers.
“Russian investment in their Northern Fleet, particularly in their submarine capabilities, remains undiminished,” General Gwyn Jenkins, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, told the French think tank IFRI during a naval conference in Paris.
“Despite the enormous cost in terms of national resources and lives resulting from their unjust invasion of Ukraine, Russia has continued to channel resources into its Northern Fleet and its subsurface forces,” he added.
Speaking alongside senior naval chiefs from the United States, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, Jenkins said Russia’s activities are testing Western defense capabilities, especially given the time required to upgrade, build, and develop new vessels in a rapidly evolving technological environment.
“It doesn’t take many Russian assets to challenge us as allies, because we have a very low tolerance for allowing an aggressive actor to operate so close to our territory. Responding to that takes considerable resources,” Jenkins said.
Vice-Admiral Harold Liebregs, commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy, echoed Jenkins’ concerns, noting that Russia is becoming increasingly assertive in the North Sea and lingering near critical infrastructure, potentially preparing further operations.
“We see Russian ships deploying drones over our territory, and we observe the so-called shadow fleet, or Dark Fleet, supporting Russia’s war economy with poorly maintained, uninsured vessels that create significant liability risks in the North Sea,” he said.
“The key point is that we should not accept this as the new normal. Allowing it limits our freedom to maneuver and weakens our overall strategic position,” Liebregs added