US raises concerns over alleged Russian sabotage of subsea cables

US officials claim to have identified a rise in Russian military activity around key subsea cables. It believes that the country is likely to perform a sabotage attack.

According to CNN, two officials from the US have raised concerns about the Russian military unit named the ‘General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research’ (GUGI).

“We are concerned about heightened Russian naval activity worldwide and that Russia’s decision calculus for damaging US and allied undersea critical infrastructure may be changing,” a US official said.

“Russia is continuing to develop naval capabilities for undersea sabotage mainly through GUGI, a closely guarded unit that operates surface vessels, submarines and naval drones.”

Subsea cables are a critical piece of the world’s internet infrastructure, delivering more than 95% of the data worldwide.

The US often tracks Russian ships that patrol close to critical maritime infrastructure and undersea cables often far from Russian shoes, the officials said.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russia has been accused of sabotaging a cable connecting Estonia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea, which Putin denied. It has since been blamed on a pro-Ukrainian group – although President Zelensky has not confirmed knowledge of the operation.

Plus, increased naval activity off the Irish coast raised alarm in 2023, as many cables connecting North America to Europe run through the region.

TI investigated earlier this year what the threat to subsea cables means, how they are protected, and how easily the cables can be fixed. Read here for more.