Russia may be preparing sabotage in North Sea in case of war with NATO - Investigation
Russia is using military and civilian vessels in the North Sea to collect data on the location of offshore wind farms, gas pipelines, internet cables, etc.
This is stated in a joint investigation by public broadcasters in Denmark (DR), Sweden (SVT), Norway (NRK) and Finland (Yle), published on Wednesday, April 19.
Journalists have tracked dozens of Russian research and fishing vessels, whose routes regularly passed near oil and gas fields, wind farms and power plants, as well as near military training grounds, particularly during NATO exercises. According to intelligence and experts, Russia intends to create a map of infrastructure at sea in the waters around Denmark and the Scandinavian countries, using military and civilian ships.
According to Norwegian intelligence chief Nils Andreas Stensones, surface and underwater civilian and military vessels are collecting information under the GUGI program. They are discovering what lies at the bottom of the sea and how the infrastructure of the four countries is connected. Andreas Stensones, quoted by NRK, said that the reconnaissance activities were carried out "in addition to the normal commercial activities [of fishing boats].
According to the Norwegian public broadcasting company NRK, at least 50 civilian ships have participated in intelligence-gathering missions in northern waters over the past decade.
Journalists from the Finnish public broadcaster Yle investigated how the oceanographic research vessel Admiral Vladimirsky was used to map critical infrastructure on the North Sea floor.
According to experts and intelligence officials, these reconnaissance missions could be the first step toward sabotage of critical infrastructure, such as telecommunications cables or offshore wind farms. They suggested that Russia could be preparing such sabotage in case of war with NATO.
"In the event of a conflict with the West, they are ready and know where to intervene if they want to paralyze Danish society," Anders Henriksen, the head of Danish counterintelligence, told reporters. And Nils Andreas noted that this task is strategic for Russia and is controlled directly from Moscow.
Journalists received intercepted communications from the Russian Navy, which showed that Russian "ghost ships" were sailing in northern waters. They have turned off the automatic identification system and do not report their location. The investigation refers to one of them, the Russian Navy ship Admiral Vladimirsky. Officially, it is engaged in marine research, but it is also used for reconnaissance, the investigation says. The journalists found out that last November, the ship spent a month near seven wind farms off the coast of Britain and the Netherlands. When the journalists approached it on a rubber boat, several men with their faces covered came on deck, including a man in a bulletproof vest armed with a military rifle. The same ship was spotted in the fall near offshore wind farms and other critical infrastructure near Belgium and the Netherlands. In total, the media have identified 50 Russian ships with suspicious routes over the past decade.
Russian Ambassador to Oslo Teimuraz Ramishvili said in a comment to the media that "the work of the research projects was coordinated through diplomatic channels and complied with international law."
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The fact that Russia is collecting data on wind farms in the Netherlands and is probably planning to commit sabotage in the North Sea to damage the country's energy supply system was recently stated by the director of the Dutch military intelligence (MIVD), Jan Swillens
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