NATO has information that Russia may be using the remains of the ferry "Estonia", which sank in 1994 in the Baltic Sea, as a training ground for underwater operations and a possible hideout for intelligence equipment, German media outlets WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.
According to the investigation, several NATO countries have information that devices for high-precision guidance of underwater vehicles and robots were installed in the area of the shipwreck years ago. The alliance suspects that Russia may have used the diving ban introduced after the tragedy to deploy military sensors, capable of detecting the acoustic signatures of NATO ships and submarines - including propeller sounds and other technical characteristics.
The activity is believed to be coordinated by the Main Directorate for Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) of the Russian Ministry of Defense - a top-secret structure that reports directly to the minister.
According to Western intelligence sources, GUGI controls a flotilla of spy ships, presented as oceanographic, that map underwater cables and pipelines, install sensors and potentially prepare sabotage operations against critical infrastructure. In June, Britain added the agency to its sanctions list.
The Estonian Foreign Ministry said it was closely monitoring developments in the region together with its allies and noted that Russia had become increasingly assertive since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The Finnish border guard declined to comment for operational reasons, while a spokesman for the German Defense Ministry confirmed that underwater activity that "may be aimed at critical maritime infrastructure or have espionage purposes."
The Russian government did not respond to requests for comment, Tagesschau reported.
Military sources cited the strategic location of the sunken ship between Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states as particularly suitable for covert intelligence gathering.
The ferry "Estonia", traveling from Tallinn to Stockholm, sank on September 28, 1994, in a storm, claiming the lives of 852 people. The site of the tragedy, at a depth of about 80 meters and 35 km southeast of the Finnish island of Utø, has been declared a maritime cemetery and access to it is prohibited under an agreement between Sweden, Estonia and Finland.