Intelligence: Russia uses “research” fleet for sabotage against NATO countries

The Russian “research fleet” has a huge sabotage and reconnaissance potential aimed at NATO’s underwater infrastructure in critical regions.

This is reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.

We are talking about the Baltic, Barents and North Seas, as well as the world’s oceans as a whole. The capabilities and threats coming from Russian research vessels are being studied on the platform of the University of Texas.

Experts from the University of Texas recalled the recent incident in the Irish Sea with the research vessel “Yantar”, which was intercepted by the Irish Navy while deploying a UAV in the area of ​​important underwater energy and internet cables.

“The Russian Federation has been using hydrographic vessels for decades for reconnaissance and sabotage against the underwater infrastructure of NATO and EU members. The “research fleet” is managed by the Navigation and Oceanography Department together with a unit of the Russian Defense Ministry called the “Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research,” the report says.

This unit has at its disposal the special-purpose nuclear submarines BS-64 “Podmoskovye” and BS-136 “Orenburg,” and the scientific research vessels Yantar and Almaz.

The Russian Navy also has numerous hydrographic vessels designed for marine, river and lake surveys and pilotage, catamarans and boats that are often used for dual purposes.

“However, despite all the alleged multifunctionality and technological sophistication, most of the vessels of the “scientific fleet of the Russian Federation” were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Soon, Russia will be forced to decommission them without replacing them with new ones,” the experts noted.

At the same time, anti-Russian sanctions have significantly limited Moscow’s ability to modernize and equip its scientific fleet.

In particular, the Russian Defense Ministry’s report “On the State of Russia’s National Security in Maritime Activities” for 2017 emphasized the dire condition of scientific research vessels, whose average wear and tear already exceeded 80%, their average age was 34 years, and the technical condition of the majority of vessels was assessed as unsatisfactory.

As previously reported by USM, NATO is sending a fleet to protect the Baltic Sea.