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In fascist lockstep, the entire British media, broadcast and print, corporate
and state, is leading with a Ministry of Defence press release about a "Russian
spy ship" inside "British waters".

No British media appears to have been able to speak to anybody who knows the
first thing about the Law of the Sea.

Here are the facts:

The Exclusive Economic Zone extends 200 miles from the coastal baselines. The
Continental Shelf can extend still further, as a fact of geology, not an imposed
maximum.

On the Continental Shelf the coastal state is entitled to the mineral
resources. In the Exclusive Economic Zone the coastal state is entitled to the
fisheries and mineral resources.

For purposes of navigation, both the Continental Shelf and Exclusive Economic
Zone are part of the High Seas. There is freedom of navigation on the High
Seas. Foreign ships. including foreign military ships, may come and go as they
please. Nor is there any ban on "spying" - exactly as there is no restriction on
spying from satellites.

The Territorial Waters of a state extend out to just twelve miles. These are
subject to the internal legislation of the coastal state. There is freedom for
foreign vessels, including military vessels, to pass through them but only
subject to the rule of "innocent passage" - which specifically rules out spying
and reconnaisance. In the territorial sea, vessels have to be genuinely just
passing through on their way somewhere, otherwise they may need coastal state
permission for their activity.

The Exclusive Economic Zone is subject to the rules of the coastal state only in
relation to the reserved economic activities to which the state is
entitled. Scientific research is specifically free for all states within the
Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Russian ship Yantar has been just outside the UK territorial waters. It is
therefore under "freedom of navigation" and not under "innocent passage". It is
free to do scientific reaearch.

I don't doubt it is really gathering intelligence on military, energy and
communications facilities. That is what states do. The UK does it to Russia all
the time, on the Black Sea, the Barents Sea, the Baltic, and elsewhere. Not to
mention 24/7 satellite surveillance.

It is perfectly legal for the Yantar to do this. Personally I wish the entire
world would stop such activity, but to blame the Russians given the massive
levels of surveillance and encirclement they suffer from NATO assets is simply
ludicrous.

Not to mention the ultimate hypocrisy that the UK has been flying intelligence
missions over Gaza every single day and feeding targeting information to aid the
Gaza genocide.