The UK may not have the capability to deal with the “threat” of Russia’s military off the coast of Scotland, John Swinney has said.
The Scottish First Minister said he was concerned about revelations of a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines loitering over critical undersea cables in the North Atlantic.
He also expressed concerns about the ability of the UK’s armed forces to deal with any potential threats from Moscow.
Defence Secretary John Healey revealed on Thursday that the UK and its allies tracked three Russian vessels off the UK’s northern coast.
A British warship and aircraft were deployed to deter “malign” activity by Vladimir Putin’s regime in waters off the UK’s northern coast, John Healey said.
He said Vladimir Putin had sought to capitalise on the world being “distracted” by the Iran war and that he poses “the primary threat to UK security”.
Speaking in Inverness, the UK’s northernmost city, Scotland’s First Minister said it was “vital” Scotland’s infrastructure was protected.
He told MFR (Moray Firth Radio): “I am very concerned by the presence of Russian vessels in the North Atlantic, and there’s obviously significant infrastructure that is in the water that involves the communications infrastructure and the energy infrastructure of our country and many other countries.
“So it is vital that our interests are protected from any threats that might be levelled by the actions of Russian naval vessels and submarines who could damage the infrastructure.”
I’m proud of our UK Armed Forces, who left these Russian vessels with no doubt.
Their movements were not covert as Putin planned.
Their attempted secret operations were exposed.
And they have now retreated. https://t.co/8L3XkjbM0O
— John Healey (@JohnHealey_MP) April 9, 2026
Speaking on the Holyrood campaign trail, Mr Swinney said it was “exclusively the responsibility” of the UK Government to protect the UK’s national security.
“I want to make sure we’ve got the capability to do that,” the SNP leader added. “I’m very concerned that the UK does not have sufficient capability to deal with the Russian threat in the North Atlantic.
“It’s an issue which I think has got to affect our defence choices, because I think we should be investing in the security of the country, protecting that infrastructure, and not investing in nuclear weapons that we can’t use and are prohibitively expensive.”
Mr Swinney said he had not had any briefings from the UK Government “over this particular threat” but said he had urged ministers in London to ensure infrastructure in the north of Scotland is protected.
The SNP leader, speaking on the Holyrood campaign trail, said he had “made clear” his “frustration” over the level of dialogue between the Scottish and UK Governments over national security concerns “that affect the domestic security of Scotland and the domestic powers of the Scottish Government”.
He added: “I’ve benefited from individual, national security briefings, which I’m grateful for, but I think we need to have more partnership, more dialogue, more engagement, because, as we saw with the Bella 1 tanker, it didn’t take long for something that happened on the high seas to come right into the Moray Firth and be an issue that we had to wrestle with.”
In January, the Russian-flagged oil tanker, previously known as Bella 1 and now named Marinera, was seized by the US south of Iceland before sailing it to the coast of Moray, east of Inverness.
The captain and first officer of the tanker were later taken out of UK territory by the US Coastguard. Mr Swinney said at the time the Scottish Government was told about their removal only after the US had done so.
Angela Constance, Scotland’s Justice Secretary, said the situation had shown a lack of respect for “Scottish jurisdiction and Scots law”.
The UK Government has been approached for comment.
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