The war is also carried underwater! Russian secret army prepares attacks

US has identified increased Russian military activity around key submarines cables and believe that Russia is now more likely to carry out potential sabotage operations aimed at disabling a critical part of the world's communications infrastructure, two US officials told CNN.

According to one of the officials, Russia is putting increasing emphasis on building a special military unit that has an impressive fleet of surface ships, submarines and maritime drones.

"We are concerned about increased Russian naval activity worldwide and that the calculus of Russia's decisions to damage critical US and allied underwater infrastructure may change,” the US official told CNN.

"Russia continues to develop naval capabilities for underwater sabotage mainly through the division "Main Directorate of the General Staff for Deep Sea Research" - a heavily guarded unit that operates surface ships, submarines and naval unmanned aerial vehicles".

The U.S. regularly tracks Russian ships patrolling near critical maritime infrastructure and submarine cables, often far from Russian shores, the official said. U.S. concerns about the Russian unit's secret underwater operations have so far not been reported.

Undersea cables form an important backbone of the world's Internet and telecommunications traffic. The majority of communications and Internet traffic is carried through a vast network of high-speed fiber optic cables installed along the ocean floor. A coordinated attack could significantly disrupt private, government, and military communications over these cables, as well as industries that rely on such communications, including financial markets and energy providers.

Submarine cables also carry huge amounts of electricity between several European countries.

The US and its allies are closely monitoring Russian naval activity over key undersea cables around the world. Commanders aboard a NATO patrol ship in April 2023 told CNN that they had witnessed an increase in such activity over submarine cables in the Baltic Sea in recent years.

The seas around northern Europe are the focus of similar Russian military surveillance and activity. Last year, a joint investigation by the public broadcasters of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland found that Russia has a flotilla of suspected spy vessels operating in northern European waters with the aim of potentially sabotaging both submarine cables and wind farms. parks.

Using data analysis, intercepted radio communications, and intelligence sources, broadcasters tracked for several years about fifty ships operating in the area, using underwater surveillance to map potential attack sites.

Taiwanese and US forces have observed similar activity by the Chinese navy in the waters around Taiwan, as reported in "The Return of the Great Powers" in March. "The activity looks like targeted harassment by Beijing -- or an exercise in preparation for cutting off all of Taiwan," Elizabeth Brau wrote in Foreign Policy magazine in February 2023

Russia's menacing activity has not been interrupted by its ongoing war against Ukraine. The Russian leadership attaches great importance to the special unit, a US official told CNN, continuing to fund the unit even as it wages war in Ukraine.

The US official said the US would view any such sabotage of underwater infrastructure as a significant escalation of Russian aggression outside of Ukraine.

"Any activity that damages seabed infrastructure, including submarine cables, especially during periods of heightened tension, risks misunderstandings and misperceptions that could lead to unintended escalation," the US official told CNN. "The United States would be particularly concerned about damage to our or our allies' critical underwater infrastructure."