Russia is disrupting mobile communications and ship tracking data in the Baltic Sea, endangering vessels and energy supplies to test how Western powers will react. This was stated by Polish Vice Admiral Krzysztof Jaworski, who monitors the area, reports "Reuters".
He pointed out that Moscow systematically uses such tactics to hide the movements of its own ships and disrupt the operations of others in the sea, which is bordered by eight NATO countries and Russia.
"Hybrid warfare in the Baltic Sea is the biggest challenge we face," Jaworski said, referring to the practice of carrying out conventional attacks along with attempts to disrupt politics, energy supplies and other systems.
"We are talking about aggressive behavior on the part of Russia. They are trying to disrupt our lives," added Jaworski, who is commander of Poland's Naval Operations Center. "They are also testing us, as an alliance, to see how far they can go".
Moscow denies accusations that it is sabotaging Western countries and accuses the West of seeking to sow discord within Russia itself.
After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022 there have been at least three cases of possible sabotage of several telecommunications cables and critical gas pipelines that run along the relatively shallow seabed.
The head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, Bruno Kahl, said last month that Russia's sabotage actions against Western targets could eventually force NATO to consider invoking Article 5 of the alliance's mutual defense clause.
Yavorsky noted that Russian merchant ships have turned off their automatic identification system signals, which allow for electronic navigation, dozens of times since the sabotage of the "Nord Stream" gas pipeline. in 2022.
This violates maritime laws, allows ships to move undetected and endangers other ships in the area, he pointed out.
There have also been attempts to block the identification and tracking systems of other ships and to modify them with false data, Jaworski added, specifying that this concerns the jamming of mobile data and positioning data and incidents of false echoes.
The Finnish Coast Guard made similar complaints in October, indicating that this interference has led to ships being diverted from their course.
Jaworski said that it is impossible to constantly monitor all of Poland's waters in the Baltic Sea. However, he believes that his country is safe thanks to its own operations and those of its allies.
According to him, NATO will maintain its advantage in the region even if Russia deploys more ships in the area. Jaworski added that the alliance could move its frigates, which are usually stationed in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, to the region to maintain a balance.
Last week, the head of Poland's security bureau, Jacek Siwiera, said he expected Russia to move its warships, including missile frigates currently in Syria, to St. Petersburg, a move that would take them to the Baltic Sea.
"Of course, every additional ship with a large force could be a potential threat," Jaworski noted.
Asked how Poland and its allies would respond to such a move, he said they would limit themselves to surveillance, monitoring and presence at sea, "so that the potential adversary also sees that we are ready to act."
Poland gets most of its natural gas it uses through the Baltic Sea in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline supplies from Norway.