Putin is intensifying his plan to destablise Europe and prepare for a future war with NATO, experts have warned. Countries are investigating apparent deliberate damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea for the second time since December 31, with Lithuanian National Crisis Management Center chief Vilmantas Vitkauskas stating yesterday that Lithuanian and Latvian authorities investigating an incident involving an optics cable that happened on Friday evening.
Vitkauskas said an unspecified ship and its crew are being looked at. But he stopped short of naming the ship or its affiliation. He also did not attribute the damage to a specific actor. It came after Finnish and Estonian authorities reported damage to an undersea communications cable between the two countries due to alleged deliberate cutting on December 31.
The crew of the Fitburg, a ship carrying sanctioned Russian steel products from St. Petersburg, were detained under suspicion of cutting the cables.
A specific actor has not been attributed to this incident either.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its daily report on the Russia–Ukraine war yesterday: « The December 31 and January 2 undersea cable incidents come against the backdrop of Russia’s intensifying ‘Phase Zero’ campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine NATO’s cohesion, and set the political, informational, and psychological conditions for a potential future Russian war against NATO. »
Russian forces struck a hospital in Kyiv City and an American-owned enterprise in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast during missile and long-range drone strikes overnight on January 4 to 5, the Ukrainian Air Force reported.
The ISW added that Russia is « modifying its Shahed long-range strike drones to target Ukrainian aircraft as part of a wider effort to innovate and maximise long-range drone capabilities ».
Experts added: « Ukrainian and Russian forces have been engaged in an offense-defense race since 2022 to develop new technology, as Russian forces have escalated their long-range strike campaign and Ukrainian forces have responded by innovating new air defense measures to combat the strikes.
« Ukrainian drones have developed interceptor drones capable of downing Russian drones.
« The MANPADS on the Shahed drones are front-facing, leaving the drones vulnerable to Ukrainian interceptor drones that approach Russian drones from behind.
« Russia’s continued efforts to degrade Ukrainian air defenses through constant innovation and adaptation underscore the need for a flexible, well-rounded, and well-provisioned Ukrainian air defense umbrella, including an arsenal of interceptor drones. »
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