The Russian Federation is engaged in systematic espionage in the Baltic and North Seas under the guise of scientific research, the NDR and WDR TV channels, as well as the SZ newspaper, found out. Russia's focus is on critical infrastructure and NATO.
Russia is systematically collecting information on gas pipelines, data cables, wind farms and military infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. This was the conclusion reached by investigative journalists within the framework of the international project “Russian spy ships”, in which the German public-law television channels NDR and WDR, as well as the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper participated, the results of which were made public on September 24.
The Russian Federation is spying on critical infrastructure from warships
According to their data, Russia uses so-called “research ships” equipped with sensitive hydroacoustic and radar equipment to spy on objects of critical infrastructure. Officially, these ships are engaged in “oceanographic research”, but in reality most of them are assigned to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation or the Navy of the Russian Federation.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, at least 72 such ships have made more than 400 flights, according to journalists who analyzed more than a thousand messages from Russian ships transmitted in Morse code, as well as satellite images.
Nordic and Baltic sea - in the focus of the Russian special services
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000The results of the investigation show that the North and Baltic Seas are the focus of Russia's espionage efforts. At least 60 times, Russian ships have made suspicious, extremely slow zig-zag passes, mostly with their automatic identification systems turned off. Such maneuvers were repeatedly carried out in close proximity to critical infrastructure objects.
According to experts, such techniques are used to accurately measure objects in order to prepare for possible sabotage. In response to the request of the authors of the investigation, the head of the Federal Intelligence Service of Germany, Bruno Kahl, stated about a “very specific” threat. According to him, the Russian Federation is accelerating the pace in order not to miss the opportunity to act against the West in the military sphere.
The Russians collected data on NATO, wind farm and gas pipelines
Among the alleged targets of Russian espionage are the diving area of NATO submarines, a wind farm near the Baltic island of Rügen and the Balticconnector gas pipeline. Some time after the suspicious actions of Russian ships, this gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese ship, the Estonian investigation claimed sabotage. In the North Sea, Russian ships were apparently gathering information about the Europipe gas pipeline from Norway to Germany.
Journalists managed to get confirmation of the Russian actions from a former crew member of the research ship “Sibiryakov”. He stated the Russians' strategic interest in foreign critical infrastructure, as Russia would gain an advantage by destroying it in the event of war. “Therefore, the direct function of the research ships is to scan the seabed and provide this information to the military,” he explained.
In addition to the German media, journalists from the Dutch media company Pointer, the Belgian VRT, the Estonian ERR, and the Norwegian NRK participated in the investigation. and Finnish YLE.