An expert: Russia threatens NATO’s underwater infrastructure

The United States sees a growing risk of “sabotage” by a secret military unit of the Russian Federation on key submarine cables.

The US has detected increased Russian military activity around key submarine cables, CNN reports.

As two US officials told the newspaper, Russia may now be more likely to carry out sabotage aimed at disabling a critical part of the world’s communications infrastructure.

According to one and CNN’s interlocutors, Russia is paying more and more attention to the creation of a special military unit, within the scope of which the tasks include the deployment of a huge fleet of surface ships, submarines and naval drones. The subdivision “Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research of the General Staff” is known by the Russian abbreviation “GUGI”.

The US routinely detects Russian ships patrolling near critical maritime infrastructure and submarine cables, often far from Russian shores.

Most communications and internet traffic travels through a vast network of high-speed fiber optic cables laid along the ocean floor. A coordinated attack could significantly disrupt private, government, and military communications, as well as industries that depend on such communications, including financial markets and energy supplies.

A U.S. official told CNN that the U.S. would view any such sabotage of underwater infrastructure as “a significant escalation of Russian aggression outside of Ukraine.”

USM previously reported that an underwater electric cable would be laid in the Black Sea.