A Russian military programme reportedly mapped out offshore wind farms, gas pipelines, and electricity and internet cables in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden, according to a documentary aired on Wednesday.
The documentary, Skyggekrigen, was produced by Danish public service broadcaster DR in collaboration with Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish TV stations and revealed the goal of the Russian operation is allegedly to plan and carry out sabotage against Nordic countries, including cutting power and data cables across the Atlantic and the rest of Europe.
According to the sources used by the four media outlets, the military programme is part of Russia’s preparation for a major conflict with the West, and a vast number of military and civilian ships are sailing around Nordic waters, uncovering what lies on the seabed, and how the infrastructure is interconnected.
“In the event of a conflict against the West, they are ready and know where to strike if they want to paralyse Danish society,” said Anders Henriksen, the counter-espionage chief of the Danish intelligence service (Politiets Efterretningstjeneste, PET).
Nils Andreas Stensønes, the head of Norway’s intelligence service, stated that the military program is a strategic capacity for Russia that is considered essential and controlled directly from Moscow.
DR, along with the Norwegian (NRK), Swedish (SVT) and Finnish (Yle) TV stations, obtained intercepted radio communication from the Russian navy in its investigation, revealing that Russian “ghost ships” are sailing in Nordic waters, turning off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmitters, so their locations are not shared.
One such example is the Russian naval vessel “Admiral Vladimirsky.” Officially, the ship is engaged in oceanographic research, but according to DR’s sources, it is also used for intelligence work as the vessel has sent radio messages detailing its positions to a fleet base in Russia.
Based on the intercepted radio communication, the documentary makers revealed that Admiral Vladimirsky sailed for a month around the Baltic Sea, Storebælt, the Kattegat Strait, and the North Sea. The ship passed by existing and future offshore wind farms, where it stayed for several days.
According to intelligence sources and experts, the goal of Admiral Vladirmirsky’s mission in Nordic waters was to prepare for sabotage so that Russia could potentially paralyse the power supply in northwestern Europe.
“This is what research vessels do – as part of preparing for a major war with NATO,” revealed a key source in a Western intelligence service in the documentary.
Specifically, the Russian naval vessel likely mapped out the power and data cables from the offshore wind farms to the onshore grid and their interconnections, as well as the location of other critical infrastructure.
Revelations taken seriously
In Sweden, former defence minister Peter Hulqvist said that in recent years, 50 Russian “ghost ships” were found around the Nordic Region, 27 of which were in Swedish waters.
According to him, there is a clear and serious intention behind what the Russian ships are actually doing.
“It is aimed at providing a basis for Russian war planning directly against Sweden. The aim is to find out how to sabotage Swedish systems”, he told the Swedish broadcaster SVT.
Swedish government representatives also reacted sharply to the revelation of extensive Russian espionage from the sea.
According to Mikael Oscarsson, defence policy spokesperson for the Christian Democrats, the behaviour is “unacceptable”, and the issue will now be raised in the defence committee on Thursday.
The Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Military Intelligence and the Security Service will be called up to put measures in place, he told SVT.
The discovery of Russia’s mapping and potential sabotage plans in the Nordic region has also raised concerns among Danish, Norwegian and Finnish authorities.
The Danish government has called for increased security around its offshore wind farms, and the Danish Energy Agency ordered an urgent review of security and contingency plans for the offshore wind sector.
The Norwegian Ministry of Defence has also expressed concerns about the situation and is monitoring the situation closely.
Contacted by EURACTIV, the European Commission did not respond on the matter and namely on the safety of EU critical infrastructure.(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
