“Russia has laid mines on submarine pipelines and cables,” fears NATO | War Ukraine and Russia

Threats to submarine cables and pipelines have become a major concern for Europe since some mysterious explosions paralyzed the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea last September. Although there are indications pointing in the direction of Russia, this has not yet been irrefutably proven.

“Russia can sabotage submarine cables to punish Western countries for supporting Ukraine,” NATO intelligence chief David Cattler warned on Wednesday. “The Russians are more active than ever on this front,” he said. “Russia is actively mapping Allied critical infrastructure both on land and on the seabed.”

The warning comes as tensions have escalated after Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a botched assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin – which Ukraine has vehemently denied.

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“There are strong suspicions that mines have already been laid on cables and pipelines. Companies have their own highly classified information. We have many suspicions,” a NATO official confided to The Times. Somewhere in Moscow, people are thinking about the best way to blow up our pipelines or cut our cables.

“It’s our job to make sure it’s a pointless endeavor. At least, to make it very clear that we will be able to show who the perpetrator is, which reduces the attraction to actually take action because there is then an act of war.”

Sabotage of submarine pipelines can have enormous economic and social consequences for Europe. As concerns about cable safety grow, Western countries are trying to turn the North Sea into a green power plant, planning many new wind farms to be connected to the mainland by cables.

Other submarine cables carry about 95 percent of the world’s internet traffic at speeds of about 200 terabytes per second, with 200 of these 400 cables considered critical infrastructure according to NATO. “All told, they facilitate an estimated $10 trillion in financial transactions each day, so these cables are really critical to our economy,” Cattler explained.

The military alliance is so concerned about this threat that in February it set up the Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell, led by Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann – a retired German army officer – to try to monitor Russian espionage.

“The threat is real and NATO is acting,” said Hans-Werner Wiermann. When asked what the industry could do to make new wind farms more resistant to attack, he suggested connecting them to the mainland with multiple cables instead of just one.

Cattler said NATO ships are patrolling the Atlantic more than in recent years and have also increased their activities in the North and Baltic Seas.