Russian spy ships disguised as fishing vessels in North Sea, probe says

Public broadcasters of several Nordic countries conducted a joint investigation, the results of which allege that Russia has established a state-run programme using spy ships disguised as fishing vessels. It has done so to come to a position where it is capable of attacking windfarms and communications cables in the North Sea.

In the probe, a Danish counter-intelligence officer claims the sabotage strategy is likely to be implemented in the event that Russia and the West enter a full-blown conflict.

According to a Norwegian intelligence officer, the scheme is high on Russia's list of priorities and has therefore been allocated enough resources. It is also being directly controlled by Moscow.

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The broadcasters involved in the joint probe are DR from Denmark, NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden and Yle in Finland. The first report is due to be aired on Wednesday evening.

Russia has reportedly disguised some spy boats as fishing trawlers and scientific research vessels in the North Sea. These boats have underwater surveillance apparatus onboard that is aimed at mapping crucial sites that are of interest to Moscow and viewed as potential sabotage targets.

Meanwhile, the Danish government released official documents on Tuesday regarding the Nord Stream pipeline explosion in the Baltic Sea in September. The papers detail for the first time how Danish defence patrols took 112 photographs of Russian vessels off its coast days before the pipeline burst. The pipeline was destroyed in the aftermath of the explosion and large amounts of gas were released.

T-Online, a German news portal, had reported on the patrol operation in September, much before the pipeline explosion. According to the report, there were loading cranes and a mini-submarine on the Russian ships. They were operating just outside Danish and Swedish radar zones.

Denmark, Sweden and German authorities are conducting a joint investigation into the explosion. There is wide consensus that the pipeline explosions happened due to a sabotage attack. However, responsibility for it has not been fixed yet. The nature of the explosive used seems to point to the fact that a state-sponsored group was involved, according to a Swedish prosecutor involved in the investigation.

(With inputs from agencies)

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