https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/m...iske-spionskibe-forbereder-mulig-sabotage-mod
Disclosure: Russian spy ships are preparing possible sabotage against offshore wind turbines, gas pipes and power cables in Denmark and the Nordics
DR was met by a masked man with a military rifle on the sea off Sjællands Odde when a Russian naval ship stopped in the Kattegat.
The vessel 'Admiral Vladimirsky' belongs to the Russian Navy and is officially a marine research vessel. (Photo: © Morten Krüger, DR)
Niels Fastrup
Lisbeth Quass
Frederik Hugo Ledegaard
TODAY AT 06:00 (19.4.2023)
According to intelligence services and experts , a Russian military program is currently mapping offshore wind farms, gas pipelines and power and internet cables in the waters around Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The mapping is done by a large number of military and civilian ships sailing around the Nordic waters and uncovering what lies at the bottom of the sea and how our infrastructure is connected.
According to the sources, the aim is to plan sabotage against the Nordic countries, including by being able to cut power and data cables across the Atlantic and to the rest of Europe.
This is revealed by the new documentary series "
The Shadow War ", which DR has made in collaboration with the television stations NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden and Yle in Finland.
- In the event of a conflict with the West, they are ready and know where to intervene if they want to paralyze Danish society, says counterintelligence chief Anders Henriksen from the Danish Police Intelligence Service (PET).
The military program is central to Russia's preparations for a major conflict with the West, the sources say.
- This is a strategic capacity for Russia, which is considered very important and is controlled directly from Moscow , says Nils Andreas Stensønes, head of the Norwegian Intelligence Service.
Russian Navy Vessel Revealed With Intercepted Radio Communications
In uncovering Russia's operations, DR , NRK, SVT and Yle have come into possession of intercepted radio communications from the Russian navy .
The communication reveals that there are Russian "ghost ships" sailing in the Nordic waters . Ships which have turned off their so-called AIS transmitters and thus do not share their locations.
An example is the Russian naval vessel 'Admiral Vladimirsky'.
Officially, 'Admiral Vladimirsky' does marine research , but according to DR 's sources it is also used for intelligence work.
Last November, the 147.8 meter long ship sailed around the Kattegat without sharing its location with the outside world . But the vessel continuously sent radio messages to a naval base in Russia containing its positions.
On the basis of the intercepted radio communication, DR was therefore able to locate the Russian naval ship north of Sjællands Odde in November.
A journalist and a photographer from DR sailed out and found the large vessel in the waters between Sjællands Odde and Grenaa.
As DR approached in a fast-sailing rubber boat, several men with covered faces stepped forward on deck, including a uniformed man wearing a bulletproof vest armed with a Russian military rifle.
The team from DR was also filmed by the crew on the Russian ship:
Idle at several offshore wind farms
Based on the intercepted radio communications, DR , NRK, SVT and Yle can reveal that 'Admiral Vladimirsky' sailed around the Baltic Sea, the Great Belt, the Kattegat and the North Sea for a month .
The ship's route passed both current and future offshore wind farms, where it stayed for several days.
Facts: This is how we did it
- DR, NRK, SVT and Yle have mapped 'Admiral Vladimirsky's' route on the basis of intercepted radio communications from the Russian navy.
- These are position reports that Russian naval vessels report to Russian naval bases on land.
- On the basis of the position reports, which were submitted every few hours, DR could follow 'Admiral Vladimirsky's' sailing route, even though the ship did not broadcast on AIS.
- In addition, DR, NRK, SVT and Yle have analyzed millions of so-called AIS signals sent by ships via open data to find Russian vessels with suspicious sailing patterns.
Intelligence sources and experts estimate that the aim of 'Admiral Vladirmirsky's' mission in our waters was to prepare sabotage, so that Russia has the opportunity to paralyze, among other things, the power supply in North-West Europe.
- This is what the research ships do - as part of the preparation for a major war with NATO , says a central source in a Western intelligence service .
More specifically, the Russian naval vessel has probably mapped power cables on the seabed at the offshore wind farms, assesses the independent naval analyst HI Sutton.
- There will be clusters of cables where one bomb can knock out the entire wind farm, says HI Sutton, who reviewed 'Admiral Vladimirsky's' route for the four media .
The assessment is supported by naval captain and military analyst Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen from the University of Copenhagen, who has also reviewed the naval vessel's route.
He insists that the ship has systematically sailed and made stops at offshore wind farms off a number of countries.
- The ship has been on a mission to map what's new out there - have there been changes since they were last there - and to find out how they do it best if they have to hit the offshore wind farms, he assesses.
In the autumn, a Russian naval ship was observed at offshore wind farms and other critical infrastructure off Belgium and the Netherlands. According to the media, it was probably 'Admiral Vladimirsky', which a central intelligence source confirms to DR.
In the clip below, the head of the Dutch intelligence service MIVD Jan Swillens comments on the incident:
Afspil video
13 SEKUNDER
Scores of ships with suspicious sailing patterns
'Admiral Vladimirsky' is far from the only Russian vessel that has had suspicious sailing patterns in Nordic waters .
In the past year, DR , NRK, SVT and Yle have mapped large amounts of ship traffic data and found 50 Russian ships that have sailed in a suspicious manner over the past ten years, experts estimate based on the mapping .
- They can carry out specific missions where, for example, they can lay out sea mines and map pipelines, communication cables and other relevant sabotage targets, says Åse Gilje Østensen, an expert in hybrid threats at the Norwegian Defense Academy.
Some of the ships have appeared systematically at joint NATO exercises, others have repeatedly crossed two important submarine cables in Norway
before the cables were suddenly severed , and others have, year after year, sailed deep into inland fjords without putting into port.
The 50 ships in the media's mapping are just a sample of the vessels that Russia can deploy to sabotage cables with internet, power, gas and other infrastructure in the West, says Associate Professor at the Norwegian Defense Academy Ståle Ulriksen.
- We are talking about several hundred which can potentially be used, he says.
According to DR 's sources , vessels such as 'Admiral Vladimirsky' send information into an intelligence system, where they can be accessed by, among other things, a Russian program for underwater warfare called GUGI.
- GUGI is a military organization and a military program in Russia, which intends to map Western infrastructure on the seabed, and they have surface vessels, submarines and underwater vessels to carry out those operations, says Norwegian intelligence chief Nils Andreas Stensønes.
All types of vessels can be deployed
Russia has also recently
updated its so-called naval doctrine , which sets out the strategy for the country's maritime defence.
The change means that all kinds of vessels can be required to be activated and used for military operations.
Thus, everything from civilian research vessels to cargo ships and fishing trawlers can now be used for Russian sabotage, Ståle Ulriksen estimates.
- Where we are perhaps most vulnerable is mine laying. It is quite easy to drop mines from a civilian ship in strategic locations. So if you have a plan for where you can mine, and maybe have a few hundred ships available, then you should probably get them out, he says.
Attacks on our critical infrastructure can have major consequences for, among other things, our healthcare , the financial sector and our communications, assesses maritime infrastructure expert Tobias Liebetrau from the University of Copenhagen.
- If you destroy large parts of the energy or communication infrastructure on the seabed, entire parts of the country or sectors of society may suddenly have difficulty maintaining their operations, he says.
Ambassador: Research ships follow international law
DR , SVT , NRK and Yle have submitted the information about Russia's mapping of our infrastructure for the Russian embassies in the Nordics .
Only Russia's ambassador to Norway has responded.
- The work of the research vessels is in demand and is carried out in full compliance with international law. That work is coordinated through diplomatic channels, says Ambassador Teymuraz Ramishvili in a written comment.
He does not want to appear for an interview.
The Russian embassy in Copenhagen has not responded to DR 's repeated inquiries .
DR has also contacted the Ministry of Defense in Russia and, among other things, asked why the crew of 'Admiral Vladimirsky' was masked and armed .
The Ministry of Defense has not responded to DR 's inquiry.
Afspil video
8 MINUTTER
'The Shadow War' will be released on DR, NRK, SVT and Yle on Wednesday 19 April 2023 at 21:25, and the first episode can already be seen now on DRTV.
