The Royal Navy is tracking a Russian "research" ship that is thought to potentially be a spy spotted off the coast of the United Kingdom as fears of an attack on the undersea cables vital to the World Wide Web. They are keeping tabs on the vessel after it unexpectedly changed its course, which prompted fears that it could launch an attack on the underwater infrastructure.
The Sun reported that the Russian ship named Akademik Boris Petrov left its homeport in Kaliningrad on Monday, October 17, and set sail through the English Channel and towards the site of a scientific expedition in the South Atlantic. But on October 21, the ship is now expected to sail past the Scottish islands in the next couple of days as it slowly passes Norwegian oil fields in the North Sea.
A Russian rocket boat takes part in the 'Vostok-2022' military exercises at the Peter the Great Gulf of the Sea of Japan outside the city of Vladivostok on September 5, 2022.
Is the Undersea Fiber-Optics Cable Under Attack?
The navigation data showed that the Russian ship is also positioned to pass through the waters near the Faslane naval base, which is the home to the Trident submarines the nuclear deterrent of the country. It is expected to pass over where critical infrastructure for transatlantic cables is located in northwest Ireland.
Per The Week's report, the fiber-optic cables running between the US and Europe are the "backbone" of the World Wide Web that people have grown accustomed to using. To date, at least 95% of global communications travel through cables and the rest are via satellites.
This is not Russia's first time being embroiled in a suspected attack on vital undersea infrastructure. Daily Star reported that on September 26, the Nordstream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea had blown up, cutting off the Russian gas to the rest of Europe. Although Kremlin denied any involvement, Russia is still suspected of the attack.
Due to that, there have been speculations that their next target is the transatlantic fiber-optic cables underwater. Fianna Fail MEP, Billy Kelleher explained that all communications between the US and Europe go through a series of transatlantic cables that run very close to the coast of Ireland and the presence of Russian warships in the area earlier this year is suspicious.
What Will Happen if the Undersea Cables Are Attacked?
Even before the war between Russia and Ukraine that started earlier this year, the former has already been seen snooping near the cables. The US Navy officials have warned for many years of the devastation Russia could cause if they were to attack them.
The UK's most senior military officer once said that it would cause an immediate catastrophe to the economy if Russia decide to attack the undersea cables. NATO has been planning to resurrect a Cold War-era command post to monitor the Russian cable activity in the North Atlantic, Wired reported.
The idea of the global internet being cut-off because of damaged undersea cables is frightening. But experts said that the consequences would are less likely severe than previously. If Russia somehow chops the undersea cables, people in the US would still be able to utilize land networks that are connected to the internet but it would be impossible to communicate overseas.
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