The Defence Secretary Interview: The Covert Russian Submarine Operation

<p>Today, the defence secretary has revealed the British military has responded to a month-long Russian submarine operation over cables and pipelines north of UK.</p><p>John Healey says he deployed a warship and aircraft in response, and the Russian vessels were "monitored 24/7". He says there is "no evidence" of any damage to UK infrastructure in the Atlantic. </p><p>Why are the cables so important? What was Russia trying to achieve? Are the UK able to stop them from doing this again in future? Adam is joined by the Defence Secretary John Healey. </p><p>You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord</p><p>Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.</p><p>New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren. The social producer was Joe Wilkinson. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.</p>