US Edition
Shadow Fleets and ‘Grey-Zone’ Sabotage: The Communication Battleground Beneath the Waves
- Fourteen European countries, including Belgium, met today to strengthen cooperation against Russia's shadow fleet operating in the Baltic and North Seas.
- This initiative responds to damage inflicted on undersea cables and pipelines in October 2023, which officials attribute to hostile actors consistent with Russia's grey-zone tactics, despite Russia's denial.
- NATO leads the response through Task Force X, deploying autonomous vessels and advanced surveillance to detect and deter suspicious activities near critical undersea infrastructure.
- Belgian Foreign Minister Prévot highlighted the importance of maintaining strong international efforts and collaboration to address the hybrid threats posed by stateless or falsely flagged vessels linked to Russia.
- The enhanced cooperation includes drafting guidelines to promote responsible maritime behavior and transparency, aiming to safeguard security, trade, and critical infrastructure under international law.
25 Articles
25 Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
Shadow fleets and ‘grey-zone’ sabotage: The communication battleground beneath the waves
Undersea fibre-optic cables are lifelines for everything from financial markets to military command. But they’re under siege, and in the Baltic Sea, NATO is racing to adapt.
News quickly and reliably.
The Local - Fr
European countries announce joint action against Russia's 'shadow fleet'
Fourteen countries from Northern Europe have agreed to strengthen collaboration to combat Russia's "shadow fleet", which Moscow is accused of using to circumvent sanctions and sell its oil.
The ships of the "ghost fleet" allow Moscow to export its oil despite sanctions
Europe’s risky war on Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’
By Anatol Lieven | Responsible Statecraft | June 16, 2025 The European Union’s latest moves (as part of its 17th package of sanctions against Russia declared in May) to target much more intensively Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers and other vessels illustrate the danger that, as long as the Ukraine war continues, so will the risk of an incident that will draw NATO and the EU into a direct military clash with Russia. The EU sancti…
NB8++ joint statement on the shadow fleet
Statement from the Nordic-Baltic 8++ on joint action to further counter Russia's shadow fleet. We, the Foreign Ministers and government representatives of Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have met today to address the challenge posed by the Russian shadow fleet.
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