Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, suspicious incidents have multiplied around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, such as the “rupture” of two submarine telecom cables in recent days.
These actions, targeting in particular energy and communication equipment, are part, according to experts and politicians, in the context of the “hybrid war” between Russia and Western countries, in this vast area bordered by several NATO members. , where Moscow also has entry points.
Possible sabotage of gas pipelines and cables
We remember, in 2022, the unsolved sabotage of the Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Without forgetting the incident which caused a leak in 2023 on the Balticconnector gas pipeline, linking Finland and Estonia, which also remains an enigma. A telecommunications cable was also damaged between these two countries.
In October 2023, an underwater telecommunications cable between Sweden and Estonia was damaged by “an external force” or “manipulation”, according to Stockholm.
In February 2023, Belgium announced the opening of an investigation into the activities of a Russian “spy ship” spotted in areas of the North Sea where wind farms, underwater gas pipelines and cables are located. of communication.
GPS signal jamming
Last April, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania warned that widespread GPS jamming by Russia was increasing the risk of air accidents in the Baltic and North Sea areas. The Finnish airline Finnair had also suspended its flights to Estonia for a month because of GPS interference, described by the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs as a “Russian hybrid attack”.
To combat this threat, the British army announced in August the construction of an installation intended to prepare its equipment for the risk of jamming the GPS signal.
Editing borders
Last May, the Estonian coast guard noted that their Russian counterparts had removed buoys placed on the Narva River, which separates the two countries, during the night.
At the same time, a draft Russian decree considering extending the country’s territorial waters by modifying the borders in the Baltic Sea with Finland and Lithuania had put the latter on alert.
Drone spies
In August, drone overflights were observed several days in a row in a German industrial zone, in Brunsbüttel, near the coast of the North Sea.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
On this subject, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock assumes that the reason was the presence of “a chemical park and a nuclear waste storage facility nearby”. an investigation was opened for espionage with the aim of sabotage.
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