Russia’s threat to the subsea cables the West relies on for the internet is growing more acute amid surveillance from a specialist undersea sabotage unit, a NATO official said.
The official told Business Insider that the alliance was stepping up measures to protect the cables in the wake of a report that they’re being targeted by Russia’s General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research.
“Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, threats to subsea infrastructure, including oil and gas pipelines as well as data cables have increased,” said the source.
“Allies have long warned of the risk that Russian spy ships and sabotage vessels patrolling subsea cable routes could pose to critical underwater infrastructure.”
It comes after two US officials told CNN on September 13 that Russia had deployed a secret submarine unit called The General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research. Known by its Russian acronym, GUGI, the unit’s goal is to surveil and possibly destroy the undersea cables the West relies on for the internet.
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