Britain’s discovery of a Russian intelligence collection vessel operating just outside the United Kingdom’s territorial waters has renewed concern about one of NATO’s most vulnerable assets: The network of undersea cables that carry global digital traffic.

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British officials say the ship, called the Yantar, is one of Russia’s most advanced deep-sea intelligence ships. It’s designed to survey and map seabed infrastructure, including the communication and energy lines that connect the UK to Europe.

British Defense Secretary John He

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