US nuclear submarines step in to defend crucial European sea cables from sabotage - amid warnings Putin is preparing to attack Europe

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 17:10 EDT, 19 September 2026 | Updated: 17:13 EDT, 19 September 2026 The United States has sent two nuclear-powered submarines to defend critical undersea cables against potential sabotage by Russia, military sources have said – amid growing warnings that Vladimir Putin is preparing to launch attacks on Europe.The cables running between Britain and America are responsible for more than 90 per cent of the UK's international banking transactions.It comes after Poland's premier Donald Tusk warned that the Kremlin was planning to target Nato states, while French President Emmanuel Macron said attacks were 'intensifying' amid fears that Russia is preparing to test their support of Ukraine.The First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, said in a speech on Wednesday: 'Beneath the waves, our nuclear deterrent protects the nation. Undersea cables carry almost all data, transactions, and communications on which modern life depends.'In all these areas, the Atlantic is critical.'The cables are particularly vulnerable at the GIUK gap in the two stretches of open ocean between Greenland, Iceland and Britain.A military source said: 'The UK simply does not have the reach at the moment to protect these lines, so Washington has stepped in by sending submarines.' The US Navy's USS Minnesota, a Virginia-class fast attack submarine, sails in waters off the coast of Western Australia on March 16, 2025The move comes as Nato ministers draw up contingency plans to counter any move by Russia to seize Svalbard, an archipelago in the High North that belongs to Nato member Norway, with the Royal Navy seeking operational help from French and American naval vessels.A source said: 'We are relying on the US and France for sub-surface operations to counter Russian aggression in the High North and keep them away from our critical sub-sea infrastructure'.Moscow claims that early Russian hunters discovered Svalbard and contests Norway's sovereignty.While a 1920 treaty prevents Moscow from officially deploying military personnel to the island there have been claims that covert special forces have been landed there as part of Kremlin war games – the most recent being in 2019.A senior intelligence source said: 'The presumption by many onlookers is that any conflict with Nato will be triggered in Eastern Europe, we think that while the situation there is grave the flashpoint is the High North and Svalbard where there is evidence that Russian military personnel are already integrated.'The ice is melting and that will change the face of geo-politics and warfare, ships will be able to transit across the Arctic Ocean and into the Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea.'Tim Ripley, editor of Defence Eye website, said: 'The High North is where Russia is pressing. They are testing us, mapping our undersea cables and we have little capability to stop them.'