Russia may be conducting espionage in the Baltic Sea using its "shadow fleet" of oil tankers, according to Sweden's Navy Chief Ewa Skoog Haslum.
Moscow's so-called shadow fleet operates in the Baltic Sea and consists of old vessels that often operate under opaque ownership and lack adequate insurance, frequently changing their flag registrations. Experts say the vessels are being used by Russia to circumvent curbs on its oil exports.
Haslum spoke with Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television ABSVT (SVT) and an article titled "Navy chief: We suspect the Russian shadow fleet is spying" was published on Tuesday.
She said the Swedish Navy has been tracking some of these cargo vessels and found that some are capable of being used for espionage. They found communications and signals equipment onboard some of the ships, and suspect they can be used as part of "hybrid operations," she said.
"We are finding antennas and masts that typically do not belong to, for example, fishing vessels, so it is clear that we feel that there are sometimes other objectives associated with their activities in terms of what is moving at sea," she said.
The navy also has documentation that vessels from the Russian shadow fleet can be used for signals intelligence, or intercepting communications.
"What is happening now due to the sanctions against Russia could become both a security and an environmental tragedy," Haslum told the broadcaster.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment by email.
Tensions have mounted between NATO and Moscow over Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Kremlin officials have accused Washington of instigating a new World War in coordination with members of the military alliance.
In February, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington D.C.-based think tank, warned that Russia could be gearing up for a war with NATO. It said that a new military decree from Putin that reestablished the Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts indicated he is preparing for a potential conflict with the military alliance.
The re-creation of the Moscow Military District and Leningrad Military District "supports the parallel objectives of consolidating control over Russian operations in Ukraine in the short-to-medium term and preparing for a potential future large-scale conventional war against NATO in the long term," the think tank assessed.
Russian military analyst Yuri Fedorov previously told Russian investigative site Agentstvo that the move suggests Russia is gearing up for possible conflicts with the Baltic states and NATO.
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
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