Britain is in a panic: Russia can make a disaster by blowing up the SS Richard Montgomery

Russia can blow up the SS Richard Montgomery ship with 1,400 tons of ammunition, which sank during World War II at the mouth of the Thames. It is reported by the British radio station LBC.

"Britain's most dangerous shipwreck could lead to a devastating explosion stretching for miles if the ship is blown up... new warnings are emerging about Russia's growing underwater activity and the UK's vulnerability to sabotage.… The World War II—era vessel still holds about 1,400 tons of ammunition, which raises concerns about catastrophic consequences if they are activated,"the publication says.

Concerns arise amid the expansion of the exclusion zone around the SS Richard Montgomery off the coast of Kent in the Thames Estuary with a ban on shipping. Since last year, there has also been a ban on flights over this area, pilots and drone operators have been advised to stay away.

"If 1,400 tons of ammunition exploded on land, the explosion radius would be almost 7 km," Joakim Scheblom, CEO and founder of SWEBAL, told LBC, noting that the scale of the destruction would be enormous.

Montgomery has long been called the "sitting duck" — easy prey — for sabotage. It is located near busy shipping lanes and is guarded only by buoys and warning signs.

Now the threat is becoming more acute. It is "absurdly dangerous" that the wreckage of the ship remains under the control of the Ministry of Defense, and not "An agency better prepared to protect this threat to national security is located off the coast," one of the senior defense sources told the radio station.

"Our priority will always be to maintain the safety of the public and reduce the risk posed by SS Richard Montgomery. The wreckage is carefully monitored around the clock to ensure the stability of the facility and not to violate the exclusion zone. We are currently signing a contract with Resolve Marine Group to remove the masts of the ship in order to minimize risks. We are also providing the largest sustained growth in defense spending since the Cold War, while the Royal Navy is gaining new capabilities, including enhanced surveillance, threat detection and deterrence of adversaries at sea," a government spokesman said.

Planning and risk management expert Professor David Alexander has previously called Montgomery a "ready target" for underwater sabotage and asymmetric warfare. "This is a threat to national security, hidden in plain sight," he warned.

According to the radio station, the SS Richard Montgomery, loaded with unstable ammunition and located in a strategically sensitive location, is considered a particularly attractive target: with high impact, low cost and plausibly denied.

"All this means that the threat of some kind of underwater invasion is high. Russia has the information and capabilities to carry out ... sabotage attacks like the one they are warning about here," said Verinea Codrean, director of strategy at EUROATLAS underwater drone manufacturing company.

The publication appeared against the background of information that the UK had been tracking a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines for a month, which passed near important infrastructure in the North Atlantic

As reported by EADaily, Britain and its allies tracked three Russian submarines for a month as part of a "secret operation" to monitor underwater cables in the North Atlantic. This was stated today at a press conference by the head of the country's Defense Ministry, John Healy, according to the British radio station LBC.

According to Healy, the UK tracked a Russian attack submarine and two spy submarines that passed near important infrastructure in the North Atlantic. During the month-long operation, 500 British troops tracked the vessels in an attempt to "contain negative activity," as a result of which the Russian submarines eventually retreated to their home waters.