The Russian military reconnaissance ship Yantar made a three-month voyage along the coast of Europe in search of critical energy and internet cables. The vessel is equipped with advanced surveillance systems capable of mapping and potentially intercepting submarine cables connecting NATO countries.

Source: Financial Times

Details:The Yantar travelled through Norway, the English Channel, the Irish Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and towards Suez. Satellite data recorded that it hovered over critical cables, particularly in the Irish Sea and near the Svalbard archipelago.

Experts say the ship can deploy underwater vehicles with robotic arms capable of attaching to military and civilian cables, intercepting data, or even planting explosives for potential sabotage.

A total of 99% of the UK’s digital communications travel through seabed fibre-optic cables, while underwater pipelines supply three-quarters of the nation’s gas.

Read also:Undersea warfare in the Baltic: Why is Russia destroying EU and NATO countries' critical infrastructure?

The cables supporting the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System, a joint US-UK military network tracking enemy submarine movements, are especially sensitive.

Experts say Russia has restarted large-scale espionage operations via its Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI). The unit has around 50 vessels, most of which can operate at depths of up to 6,000 m.

Russia's strategy is to deliver swift and devastating strikes against enemy infrastructure even before a major war begins, according to Captain David Fields, the UK’s former naval attaché to Moscow.

This could mean cutting off electricity, power supplies or communications, which could paralyse Western states and undermine their political and social stability.

Background :

• The Finnish National Prosecutor’s Office has charged the captain of the tanker Eagle S and two crew members over damage to undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland.
• Earlier, Finnish authorities were investigating whether the oil tanker, part of Russia’s shadow fleet, had severed the electrical cable linking Finland and Estonia.
• The Eagle S, whose crew are accused of deliberately damaging submarine cables in the Gulf of Finland, has also been blacklisted by India.

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