NATO raises concerns over Russian underwater operations in North Sea

NATO has voiced "serious concerns" over the possibility that Russia has placed mines near vital underwater infrastructure in the North Sea.

The concerns stem from data provided by companies operating crucial oil and gas rigs, pipelines, electricity grids, and telecommunications cables in the region, Caliber.Az reports citing the foreign media.

Thomas De Spiegelaere, spokesman for the Belgian Maritime Security Cell, noted that sabotage on Dutch or Belgian cables has not been confirmed, explosives were found on a British cable at the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis.

The Belgian De Tijd newspaper analyzed maritime journals and published an article according to which more than 160 Russian civilian vessels made 945 suspicious maneuvers over the past ten years, 749 of which were seen within a kilometer from pipelines in the North Sea.

Seventy two more suspicious actions were committed near power cables, while the remaining 124 around telecommunications cables.

According to the newspaper, since the beginning of the year, the Russian trawler Kapitan Sokolov and four other ships have been sailing unusually while passing over key pipelines and cables in the North Sea.

Passing over the underwater infrastructure, the ships slowed down. According to the newspaper, they did this for reconnaissance and sabotage purposes.

“Russian ships are already suspicious, even if they follow the standard route because every Russian ship, even if it works for a private company, in any case works for the government. Unusual routes do not always raise questions, but it is suspicious if they pass over pipelines and cables,” De Spiegelaere added.

The protection of important undersea infrastructure has become a major sphere for the activity of NATO and European countries following the explosions in the Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines in autumn 2022.