2023-05-03 07:48:47
The Nord Stream Explosion
Ex-agent records “highly unusual” activities by Russian ships
It’s still not clear who was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines late last year. Recordings of radio data direct suspicion back to Russia.
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Underwater drones show the extent of damage to the Nord Stream pipelines.
Trond Larsen/Blueeye Robotics
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On September 26, explosions damaged the German-Russian gas pipelines on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
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To this day it has not been possible to determine who is responsible for this.
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Since March, Russian armed forces have been the focus of attention again, with records from an ex-agent supposed to support the suspicion.
For a long time after the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022, it was not at all clear who could be responsible for the sabotage. Nevertheless, accusations against various actors also came from the West, but above all from various Russian officials. A US journalist caused concern with his assertion that the CIA responsible for the sabotage sei, caused a worldwide sensation at times – but there is still no evidence of its history. At the same time, a Briton, hereinafter referred to as James, began to analyze the data he had recorded.
“Extremely Unusual Activities”
He had recorded “extremely unusual” activity by two Russian ships east of the Danish island of Bornholm, very close to where the explosions later took place, the reports «Spiegel». They had switched off their automatic identification system (AIS) and could therefore no longer be located using conventional means – in this state one speaks of “dark ships”. According to the position data sent at longer intervals, they were demonstrably at most a few kilometers, but probably even closer, to the later explosion sites.
Graphical representation of Russian Dark Ship routes near Nord Stream explosion sites. The records are from early June 2022.
Torsten Høgh Rasmussen / DR (Putin’s Shadow War)
James used to monitor the activities of Russia’s Baltic Fleet for the military and intelligence community, but he still does so in his spare time using open sources.
Morten Krüger / DR (Putin’s Shadow War)
James is a pensioner and uses radio technology and other open channels of information to monitor the Russian Baltic Fleet. The pensioner does this “to fill his days” and because he is fascinated by what can be found out using openly accessible sources. Actually, the man has a different name, but would like to remain anonymous in the media. The findings he reports on could “endanger him and his work”.
In the three-part documentary series “Shadow War” he talks about his pastime, spying on the Russian Navy. It is broadcast on three public broadcasters in Scandinavia. According to this, he first noticed “suspicious ship movements” in early summer 2022.
Several scenarios conceivable
For example, the retired secret service employee described the sighting of the research ship “Sibiryakov” as “highly unusual”. This had previously had an order in another part of the Baltic Sea, but then the Russian contact point changed, which then also gave orders.
In mid-June, the “Sibiryakov” repeatedly reached positions near the later explosion sites, where the first dark ship had been a week earlier. Then she turned around, but came back again the next day. The naval expert Sutton also describes this course as “unusual and very suspicious” because the ship does not normally operate in this area.
When asked by “Spiegel”, the Russian government did not comment on why the ships were there. According to James would be several scenarios conceivable: a concrete preparation for a crime, a general infrastructure reconnaissance mission or a test of whether and how Denmark and Sweden would react to the Russian presence off Bornholm.
“Powerful and Valuable New Information”
In addition to the conspicuous movements of several Dark Ships, the recordings show above all a considerable expansion of suspected Russian espionage activities in the Baltic Sea. Accordingly, Russia is increasingly targeting potential strategic targets such as offshore wind farms and important undersea Internet cables. This in order to be able to attack sensitive infrastructure if the conflict with the West escalates.
According to the “Spiegel”, well-known experts believe that James’ information is authentic. British naval expert and author HI Sutton considers the findings to be “strong and valuable new information”.
In any case, the new data from James also matches research by the news portal T-Online. As the portal reported in March, a few days before the September explosions, other Russian ships with underwater equipment were in the sea area around the explosion sites.
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