[New] The "fake" fishing boats with which Russia could carry out sabotage in the North Sea in the event of a war with the West

[HeWhoRemains™]

Russia has a plan to sabotage wind farms and communication cables in the North Sea, according to a new joint investigation by Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish public television networks.

It ensures that Russia has a fleet of ships that appear to be fishing and oceanographic research vessels in the North Sea, which carry underwater surveillance equipment and are located in key locations for possible sabotage.

The BBC has information that UK officials are aware of the Russian programme, which includes the presence of spy craft in British waters.

The first in a series of reports on the matter will be broadcast on Wednesday by DR in Denmark, NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden and Yle in Finland.

Marine exploration as a facade
A Danish counterintelligence officer assured that sabotage plans are being prepared in the event of a full and open conflict with the West.

For his part, the Norwegian intelligence chief told the broadcasters that the program was considered very important to Russia and was being run directly from Moscow.

The stations claimed to have had access to intercepted Russian communications and that they indicate that the so-called ghost ships sail in Nordic waters, but have turned off their transmitters so as not to reveal their location.

The report focuses on a Russian ship called the Admiral Vladimirsky. She is officially an expeditionary oceanographic or underwater research vessel. However, in the investigation it is stated that she is, in fact, a spy ship.

The documentary features an expert from the British Royal Navy who tracked the movements of the ship in the vicinity of seven wind farms off the coast of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

The expert assured that the Russian vessel slows down when it approaches coastal areas where there are windmills and loiters in the area.

Likewise, he said that she sailed for a month with the transmitter turned off.

More reason to be suspicious
As a reporter from the investigation team approached the Vladimirksy in a small boat, a masked individual carrying what appeared to be a military assault rifle emerged threateningly.

The same ship was reportedly sighted off the Scottish coast last year.

The vessel was seen entering the Moray Firth (an estuary in northern Scotland) on November 10.

The vessel was about 30 nautical miles (55.6 kilometers) east of Lossiemouth, home to Britain's Royal Air Force fleet of maritime patrol aircraft, before slowly heading west.

The BBC understands that the British authorities are aware of Russia's intention to carry out what is known as underwater mapping, including the use of ships moving in its territorial waters.

"If there are specific threats against the United Kingdom, they will be investigated," said some sources, who refused to clarify what type of monitoring they are doing to this and other vessels.

In February, Dutch intelligence issued a rare warning about activities that could indicate preparation for disruption or sabotage of marine infrastructure.

The head of the country's military intelligence said a Russian ship had been detected near a wind farm in the North Sea and was mapping certain locations.

"We have seen in recent months that Russian actors have been trying to figure out how the energy system works in the North Sea. This is the first time we have seen this," General Jan Swillens said.

Preparing all the options
Reconnaissance of sensitive sites is not unusual, and Western countries are likely to carry out similar activities against Russia. It is possible that these actions seek to prepare offensive plans in case the current conflict in Ukraine escalates.

One option could be to damage communications or knock down countries' power systems to cause chaos.

So far, the evidence that an imminent sabotage is being prepared is scant.

The investigation raises the possibility that such vessels were linked to an incident last year south of Norway's Svalbard archipelago, when an underwater data cable was severed.

Skripal on British soil.

The cable served the world's largest commercial ground station for satellite communications. Norwegian police have said they believe "human activity" was behind the shooting, but have not formally charged anyone.

On April 13 this year, Norway expelled 15 Russian officials, accusing them of espionage. It was the latest in a wave of expulsions across Europe after the invasion of Ukraine in February.

In October, British police declared a major incident in the Shetland Islands, a UK archipelago near Norway, after an undersea cable failed.

The incident severely hampered communications and "fishing boats" were blamed for it at the time.

Wires are regularly cut by accident and so far the BBC understands that no premeditated hostile actions are believed to have taken place.

However, in recent months there has been one clear and significant act of sabotage: the destruction of a section of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in September. The facility was designed to transport gas from Russia to Europe.

At the time, many accused Russia, but other reports have since suggested other possibilities, including pro-Ukrainian actors. The investigations continue.

Russian military intelligence (GRU) has been linked to both sabotage of infrastructure and poisoning of people. A GRU team was accused of attempting to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury in 2018 with Novichok nerve gas.

Members of the group that tried to take down Skripal are also suspected of being behind the 2014 bombing of an arms cache in a Czech forest.

 

https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-65324645