A UK spy operation in the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad has generated virtually no press coverage. This sits in stark contrast to Russian sea and air missions anywhere near UK territories, which generate wall-to-wall stories from legacy media.
One of the only outlets reporting the story was UK Defence Journal, a military-adjacent website which mostly churns out government press releases and snippets of parliamentary debates.
The outlet said a UK Rivet Joint surveillance plane flew around Kaliningrad:
conducting a wide racetrack pattern around the Russian exclave, consistent with the UK’s long-running patrols across the Baltic region.
The website added:
These missions have been routine for years and pre-date Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Going off the legacy press, you’d think spy missions were all one way — with Russia poking around UK water and airspace unanswered. The truth is quite different.
Russian enclave spy missions
Kaliningrad is an island of Russian territory sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. It serves as a vital Russian port on the Baltic sea.
The Royal Air Force operates three RC-135Ws, aka the Rivet Joint spy plane. The aircraft works to:
intercept, characterise and analyse communications, radar and other electronic emissions to provide commanders with actionable intelligence.
And is “heavily used”:
for this and other operational taskings, and although formally designated Airseeker in UK service, it remains almost universally referred to by its Rivet Joint name.
The UK government warned that Russian spy ship Yantar in UK waters in April 2026. There was substantial press coverage as legacy media parroted government press releases:
Defence secretary John Healey has claimed Russian submarines have been spying on UK underwater infrastructure. Healey held a special 9 April press conference to announce a month-long operation against UK underwater pipes and cables had been foiled.
Enter Helsing
The UK announced in November 2025 thatPalantir-linked AI arms firm Helsing was opening an drone factory in the UK. Helsing were keen to cash in on a military AI boom:
They’ll be making unmanned submersible ‘gliders’. Powered by AI, the SG-1 Fathom will “deliver persistent underwater surveillance, detecting enemy activity to protect our sea lanes and undersea critical national infrastructure”.
Defence secretary John Healey told the BBC at the time:
As we look to defend ourselves, seas and protect our cables, the uncrewed submarines or underwater gliders have the potential for playing a big part in the future,
It allows us to extend the range of how we can detect, how we can deter and if necessary, deal with any aggression that we face.
In January 2025, the UK military ordered a submarine to dramatically surface near Yantar when it was operating off Cornwall. One expert called it:
“a bit of a flex” – part of an effort to get the Royal Navy to be more assertive.
The UK’s Kaliningrad mission tells a rare story. Surveillance operations are a two-way street. Yet the legacy press don’t report it as such. Maybe that’s something to keep in mind the next time the media simply repeat en masse what the military and government have said…
Featured image via Unsplash / the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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