A joint operation between the US, UK, and Norway foiled a Russian operation to cut undersea cables near the Arctic’s Svalbard archipelago this spring, Reuters reported.
The operation involved a “secret weapon” used to sabotage cables without evidence, preserving the Kremlin’s plausible deniability.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump in a phone call Tuesday that Moscow doesn’t intend to attack Europe, sentiments Trump has echoed: “Putin is not looking to attack NATO territory,” he said last week.
Western officials have expressed concern that the Kremlin is ramping up covert operations against Ukraine’s backers as Russia’s battlefield progress stalls — fears heightened by the discovery of a bomb-packed drone at a German airport last month.