Reuters: Russian submarines tried to test secret weapon against undersea cables in Arctic in April. They were prevented by NATO forces

This spring, Russian submarines conducted exercises near the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic, practicing the use of secret weapons against undersea cables. A joint force from the UK, Norway and the US tracked the Russian submarines and forced them to leave the area.

Two Western officials told Reuters about this.

In April, Britain said it had detected a covert operation by Russian submarines targeting cables and pipelines in Arctic waters. The then-Defense Secretary of State John Healy said that for a month, three submarines from the Russian Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research were being monitored by aircraft and ships from the Royal Navy and allies, including Norway. Now, Reuters has learned that US forces also took part in the operation.

The Russian submarines failed to complete the exercise and eventually left the area without damaging the cables. But this did expose NATO countries to the new Russian weapons.

According to the agencyʼs sources, the Russian target could be two underwater fiber-optic cables, approximately 1 400 kilometers long, that connect the Svalsbergen archipelago to mainland Norway. They transmit large amounts of data from the SvalSat satellite ground station, the largest in the world.

British and Norwegian officials shared with Moscow what they knew about its new technology after the operation, hoping to show Russia that its actions in the region were being monitored.

"We have made it clear to the Russian authorities: any attempt to attack our critical infrastructure will be detected, and there will be consequences," said Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik.

Western intelligence agencies fear that Russia is increasing its subversive activities in Europe and may try to test NATOʼs willingness to invoke Article 5 on collective defense. In such a scenario, undersea cables could be one of the targets, as they are critical to global communications, financial transactions, and energy infrastructure.

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