JAKARTA - Russia may sabotage underwater cables to punish Western countries in support of Ukraine, NATO intelligence officials warned on Wednesday, as the alliance stepped up efforts to protect underwater infrastructure after the Nord Stream attack.
"There are growing concerns that Russia may target underwater cables and other important infrastructure in an effort to disrupt Western life, to gain influence on countries that provide security to Ukraine," David Cattler told reporters.
"Russia is more active than we've seen in recent years in this domain," he said, adding that they patrol more across the Atlantic than in recent years, have also increased activity in the North Sea and Baltic.
The threat to cables and submarine pipelines has been the focus of public attention since an unexplained explosion paralyzed the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in September 2022, which were built to deliver gas from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea.
Citing an ongoing investigation, Cattler declined to speculate on who was behind the attack.
As concerns increase over the safety of submarine cables, Western countries seek to turn the North Sea into an environmentally friendly power generation engine, by planning a spate of new wind power plants to be connected to land by cable.
Other submarine cables carry about 95 percent of worldwide internet traffic at a speed of about 200 terabytes per second, with 200 out of 400 deemed critical cables, according to NATO.
"Overall, these cables carry financial transactions worth $10 trillion every day, so these cables are truly the economic pillars," Cattler, assistant secretary general of NATO for intelligence and security.
He further warned that NATO's enemies are aware of the enormous strategic advantages of being able to threaten the security of the Western internet, energy and financial system.
"Russia is actively mapping key allied infrastructure both on land and on the seabed," Cattler said, describing the procedure as part of an underwater reconnaissance program run by part of Russia's Ministry of Defense.
However, NATO allies are strictly monitoring Russian ships equipped with sensors that can collect electronic or acoustic information from the seabed, he underlined, saying the spy ships could be identified with antennas or unusual activity near vital areas.
VOIR éGALEMENT:
NATO significantly increased the number of ships patrolling the North Sea and Baltic after the Nord Stream explosion, as well as forming a Critical Underwater Infrastructure Protection Unit to increase cooperation with industry to experts.
"The threat is real, and NATO is increasing it," said German Lieutenant General Hans-Wenerner Wiermann, who has been in charge of the new unit since February.
When asked what the industry can do to make new wind power plants more resistant to attacks, it suggests connecting them to the mainland with some cables, not just one cable.
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