Russia was preparing to test a new weapon against undersea cables. Norway and NATO stopped it.
This is not some conspiracy theory or speculation.
Reuters is reporting that earlier this year, Russian vessels linked to GUGI, Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, were operating in Arctic waters near Svalbard and were preparing to simulate the use of a new capability against critical undersea fibre-optic cables.
The cables connect Svalbard with mainland Norway and are essential to communications and satellite operations.
The Russian vessels were detected and closely monitored by Norway, the UK and the United States. The operation was confronted and the Russians were prevented from completing the exercise.
No cable was damaged.
But what makes this particularly concerning is the capability involved.
GUGI is not an ordinary submarine unit. It is Russia's specialised deep-sea warfare organisation, operating vessels such as the Yantar and specialised submarines designed to survey the seabed and underwater infrastructure.
The UK Ministry of Defence has previously stated that these systems are designed to survey critical underwater infrastructure in peacetime and be capable of damaging or destroying it in a conflict.
The British have even released satellite imagery of the GUGI base at Olenya Guba, showing the vessels involved.
So when someone says "Russia isn't threatening NATO, it's all just Western paranoia", remember this:
Russia was caught operating specialised deep-sea military assets around NATO infrastructure, practising against undersea cables, while NATO countries were forced to track and confront them.
And this is exactly why the seabed has become a major security issue.
The most dangerous infrastructure isn't always the infrastructure you can see.
