US, UK, Norway Foil Russian Arctic Cable Plot
US, UK, Norway Foil Russian Arctic Cable Plot
The News
Britain, Norway and the United States tracked and confronted Russian submarines in Arctic waters near the Svalbard archipelago this spring after catching them rehearsing a new weapon built to disable undersea cables without leaving evidence, two Western officials told Reuters.
The operation was run by GUGI, Moscow's Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research, which used deep-sea submersibles to simulate deploying the technology, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity and declined to explain how the weapon works.
No cables were damaged. The Russian vessels were prevented from finishing the exercise and eventually left the area, according to the officials.
Why It Matters
Two 1,400-kilometer fiber-optic cables link Svalbard to mainland Norway, running as deep as 2,700 meters. They carry data downloaded at the SvalSat ground station — the world's largest, and part of NASA's Near Space Network.
Reuters reported that some U.S. intelligence analysts are increasingly worried Russia may test NATO's Article 5 mutual defense pact, and that destroying subsea cables could be a central part of such an effort, according to three U.S. officials and the Western officials.
Timeline
Three of the four Nord Stream subsea pipelines carrying Russian gas to Germany are destroyed. German prosecutors have since indicted a Ukrainian man who was a special forces officer at the time; Ukraine denies any role.
At least 11 subsea cables are damaged or cut in the Baltic Sea, according to maritime risk analytics firm Windward.
NATO launches its Baltic Sentry monitoring system and Britain leads Nordic Warden, pooling navies for heavier patrols of critical undersea infrastructure.
NATO allies catch Russian subs training with the new cable-disabling technology near Svalbard. A joint British, Norwegian and American operation tracks and confronts the vessels at sea. British and Norwegian officials simultaneously take their findings to Moscow to show they know about the technology.
Britain and Norway publicly acknowledge attempted covert Russian activity in and near Norwegian and British waters by GUGI.
An attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport prompts Germany to close a Russian consulate in Bonn and a cultural center in Berlin. CIA Director John Ratcliffe visits intelligence counterparts in Moscow, in part to warn Russia against escalating sabotage in Europe, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Britain deploys forces to Jan Mayen alongside Norwegian and U.S. allies for a High North exercise.
Reuters reports the new weapon, the location of the confrontation and the U.S. role for the first time.
Reactions
"Through our joint operation, we sent a clear message to Russia that they cannot operate covertly," Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik said in a statement. "We have made it unequivocally clear to Russian authorities that any attempt to target our critical infrastructure will be detected and met with consequences. It is in no one's interest to escalate tensions in the High North."
Russia's Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the incident, Reuters said. The Kremlin consistently denies running sabotage operations in NATO countries or plotting a confrontation, and declined to say what Ratcliffe discussed in Moscow.
NATO referred Reuters to Norwegian and British authorities. Britain's Defense Ministry pointed to its April 9 statements on covert Russian activity. The White House did not respond to a comment request and the CIA declined to comment.
"In the last 25 years, Europe did two things simultaneously. It dramatically expanded the extent to which it relies on seabed infrastructure, and it dramatically shrunk its capacity to protect that infrastructure," said Bruce Jones, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "It's belatedly rebuilding now, in the face of a burgeoning Russian threat."
What's Next
Norway plans to have a new fiber-optic cable linking Svalbard and Jan Mayen to the mainland in place by 2028.
Western officials say any escalation would put a spotlight on the Bear Gap, the 400-mile-wide stretch of water between southern Svalbard and mainland Norway that Russian nuclear submarines based on the Kola Peninsula would cross to reach the Atlantic. Washington and London have already sanctioned GUGI.
More
Since 2023, more ships have sailed slowly over or near pipelines, power lines and telecom cables to map their positions — a practice known as drifting. Windward data shows drifting in the North Sea rose 52% in 2025 to 13,079 vessels, and jumped 88% in the South China Sea region to 18,401 vessels. Baltic Sea drifting fell 5% to 526 vessels.
Surveying infrastructure in international waters is not illegal, but security experts read mapping on that scale as preparation for sabotage. "The current thinking is that Russia and China are probably the most active and critical underwater threats," Windward Chief Executive Ami Daniel said.
The cables themselves are no thicker than a garden hose and carry the bulk of global internet traffic and financial transactions. Some Western officials argue Moscow has stepped up its targeting of European states in recent months as the front line in Ukraine has stayed largely static, with Poland, Lithuania and Romania all confirming violations.
Poll
How should the U.S. respond to Russian activity around undersea cables?
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