Russia launched drones to spy on Britain’s nuclear sites during 15-month campaign, intelligence experts claim

The Kremlin orchestrated a major surveillance campaign on nuclear sites across Europe – including Britain – using drones launched from one of Russia’s shadow fleet tankers, experts believe.

The findings could bring to an end a two-year mystery that started when drones were spotted flying over four sensitive US military bases in the UK.

It was believed they had live operators, but no launch sites were found.

Now experts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a London-based think tank, have discovered that HAV Dolphin, a Russian-crewed cargo vessel, was docked near Hull at the time. Another vessel, the Seasons 1 tanker, was also in the North Sea near Essex.

open image in gallery

Having tracked the HAV Dolphin’s movements, they say it is “highly likely” that Putin waged a drone campaign in Nato airspace across Europe between August 2024 and February 2026.

The concerted surveillance campaign targeted nuclear sites in the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the researchers said.

And an analysis of 144 incidents in more than a dozen countries over an 18-month period concluded Russian intelligence had operated with “substantial impunity”, according to the report, first published by The Times.

It warns: “The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) campaign operated with substantial impunity across European airspace – representing both a series of tactical successes for the Kremlin and a strategic failure of allied air defence.”

open image in gallery

In November 2024 drones were spotted over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk, RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and RAF Feltwell, in Norfolk.

At the time four B-52 bombers were based in RAF Fairford as part of an American task force.

The drones were also heard buzzing above Lakenheath, where facilities were being built to house nuclear weapons.

The report’s authors said that Moscow’s success was because of the “basic strategic insight” that “Europe’s air-defence architecture was designed to detect and defeat conventional air threats operating in a recognisable battlespace” rather than drones.

They said vessels could have acted as a “network relay system”, with one or two deploying and recovering drones and a third providing intelligence to the drone and its operator.

HAV Dolphin, which sails under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, is currently thought to be off the coast of Portugal.

This is a breaking news story, more follows …