Danish reporters film armed guards as they approach suspected Russian spy ship – video espionage
Moscow uses spy ships disguised as fishing vessels to monitor potential targets for sabotage, broadcasters say
Wed, Apr 19 2023 3:17 PM BST
A joint investigation by public broadcasters from several Nordic countries alleges that Russia has set up a state program using spy ships disguised as fishing vessels, aimed at enabling it to attack wind farms and communications cables in the North Sea.
The investigation cites a Danish counterintelligence officer who claims the sabotage strategy is designed to be implemented in the event Russia and the West enter a full-fledged conflict.
A Norwegian intelligence officer told broadcasters the plan received major importance – and therefore resources – from the Kremlin and was controlled directly from Moscow.
The first in a series of reports from broadcasters DR in Denmark, NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden and Yle in Finland will be broadcast on Wednesday evening.
Broadcasters say Russia has disguised some spy boats as fishing trawlers and scientific research vessels in the North Sea. According to intelligence sources cited by the broadcasters, the boats carry underwater surveillance equipment that can be used to map key points of interest considered by Moscow to be potential targets for sabotage.
In another development, the Danish government on Tuesday released official documents detailing for the first time how Danish defense patrols took 112 photos of Russian ships off their coast days before the Nord Stream pipeline blew up in the Baltic Sea in September . The explosion destroyed the pipeline and resulted in the release of large amounts of gas.
The German news portal T-Online reported on the Danish patrol operation in September, a few days before the explosion. According to the portal’s report, the Russian ships were equipped with loading cranes and a mini-submarine and operated just outside the Danish and Swedish radar zones.
A joint investigation into the blast by authorities in Denmark, Sweden and Germany is underway. While there is consensus that the blasts were the result of a sabotage attack, responsibility has not been definitively established, although the “clear main scenario” based on the type of explosive used is that a state-sponsored group was involved, according to a Swedish prosecutor in the investigations involved.
According to reports, German investigators are following a lead relating to the movements of a sailing yacht, Andromeda, and her medium-sized crew believed to have been behind the attack.
The investigation of the Nordic transmitters identified so-called ghost ships – ships that have switched off their transmitters to keep their locations secret. Intercepted communications between ships were monitored by authorities, and broadcasters also had access to recordings of them.
Particular attention was paid to the Admiral Vladimirsky, registered as an oceanographic expeditionary ship but believed to be a Russian spy ship.
An unidentified former Royal Navy expert followed the route taken by the Vladimirsky on one of her voyages near seven wind farms off the British and Dutch coasts. He described how the ship, which did not turn on its transmitter for a month, noticeably reduced its speed when approaching wind farms and appeared to linger there.
A reporter approaching the ship was confronted by a man dressed in a balaclava and bulletproof vest, who appeared to be carrying a military-style assault rifle.
The UK Defense Journal reported in November that the same ship was seen off the Scottish coast that month entering the Moray Firth and sighted near Lossiemouth, home of the Royal Air Force fleet of maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
Two months ago, Dutch intelligence warned of possible attempts to disrupt or destroy marine infrastructure after a Russian ship was spotted near a wind farm in the North Sea where it is believed to be conducting underwater mapping.
It’s also believed that the disruption of an underwater data cable off the Norwegian coast last year, which authorities said could have been caused by human activity, may be linked to the Russian program. Earlier this month, Norway expelled 15 Russian officers it accused of espionage.
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