NATO warns of possible attack on undersea cables and pipelines Russia may target; economic lynchpin

NATO established a new “cell” to coordinate efforts to protect undersea infrastructure | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Important Takeaways:

  • David Cattler, NATO’s assistant secretary general for intelligence and security, told reporters Russia was “actively mapping” the infrastructure of Ukraine’s allies both on land and on the seabed.
  • The threat posed to undersea gas pipelines that supply Europe was starkly exposed by the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic last September. Cattler said that undersea cables that carry 95 percent of internet traffic were also potentially at risk.
  • “We see a significant risk that critical infrastructure in Europe and potentially North America could be targeted by Russia as part of its war on Ukraine,” Cattler said.
  • “The Russians are more active than we’ve seen them in years in this domain,” Cattler said. “Their patrols in the Atlantic and throughout the Atlantic are most of the time at a higher level than we’ve seen in recent years.” Russian vessels were also “taking more risk” in the Baltic and North Seas, he added.
  • In the wake of the Nord Stream blasts, which are the subject of investigations in three different countries, NATO established a new “cell” at its Brussels headquarters to coordinate efforts to protect undersea infrastructure. None of the investigations have yet concluded who was responsible for the attack, but initial suspicion in Western governments fell on Russia. Danish authorities last week confirmed a sighting of a submarine-carrying Russian Navy vessel near the pipelines four days before the blasts last September.
  • Norway, which replaced Russia as Europe’s single biggest gas supplier last year, has said it is “closely” tracking Russian activity in its waters, which are home to dozens of gas and oil platforms and pipelines vital to Europe’s energy supply. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told POLITICO last week that Russia was “showing readiness to take more risks” with its naval activities in the region.
  • Internet cables are seen as a key infrastructure vulnerability. “Few people are aware of just how dependent we are collectively on a limited number of fiberoptic cables that form the internet spine and electronically link our continents,”
  • Altogether they carry an estimated $10 trillion worth of financial transactions every day,” he said. “These cables really are an economic lynchpin.”

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