Russian ship ‘spying’ round wind farms off UK coast in potential sabotage plot

A Russian “spy” ship stopped at websites round wind farms off the Scottish coast in an effort to collect intelligence, an investigation has claimed.

The Admiral Vladimirsky was a part of an operation to map undersea infrastructure within the North Sea, based on a joint report by broadcasters in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

It is formally labeled as an ocean analysis vessel, however the investigation alleges it’s a part of a fleet inspecting key vitality websites for potential sabotage.

Danish broadcaster DR launched video of an encounter at sea between their group and the Russian ship, which was filmed off the Danish coast in November.

It reveals a person with an assault rifle and carrying a balaclava and navy gear showing on the deck of the Admiral Vladimirsky.

The ship is assumed to have entered the Moray Firth on 10 November final yr.

Niels Fastrup, from Danish broadcaster DR, informed STV in regards to the investigation, saying: “It appears to have been loitering for a number of days within the Moray Firth space.

“According to the source we’ve been talking to, and we gave them a look into our data, what they believe is, it is investigating some of the offshore wind farms in Scottish waters.

“The subsequent time it stopped was on the Seagreen wind farm exterior of Aberdeen.

“According to our experts and intelligence sources we’ve been talking to, the purpose of that stop was also to investigate the Seagreen wind farm in order to look for possible vulnerabilities to exploit in the event of an escalation in the current conflict situation between Russia and the Western world.”

North Sea infrastructure considerations

There have been elevated considerations in regards to the security of North Sea infrastructure amid ongoing tensions with Russia, significantly within the wake of an assault on the Nord Stream pipeline.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace mentioned the significance of defending undersea web cables when European defence ministers met for a Joint Expeditionary Force summit in Edinburgh final yr.

Norway’s oil and gasoline infrastructure was “particularly vulnerable” as a result of it had develop into Europe’s important provider, he stated.

Royal Navy buying devoted subsea surveillance ships

The Royal Navy is shopping for two devoted subsea surveillance ships, that are as a consequence of be operational this yr.

An MoD spokesperson stated: “Our priority will always be maintaining our national security.

“That is why we elevated Royal Navy presence patrols after the Nord Stream incident and have invested £65m within the first of our two Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance ships.

“We continue to review all our investments and activities against the full range of threats and risks.”

Asked to touch upon the allegations that Russia was making ready to sabotage vitality infrastructure, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated European international locations “again prefer to baselessly blame Russia for everything”.