Since early 2023, Russia has been operating a covert underwater espionage campaign in the Baltic and North Seas using research vessels like 'Gorigledzhan' from the GUGI deep-sea program. These vessels, often with their AIS tracking disabled, have been observed conducting slow 'creeping' maneuvers in sensitive areas near undersea infrastructure such as wind parks, data cables, and gas pipelines including Baltic-Connector and Europipe. Notably in October 2023, the 'Gorigledzhan' entered the protected Arcadis Ost 1 windpark near Rügen in German territorial waters, ignoring orders from German Federal Police before moving to a nearby NATO submarine exercise zone in Danish exclusive economic waters and performing suspicious zig-zag navigation patterns. Intelligence sources believe these activities aim to map and collect acoustic data on NATO submarines and critical infrastructure, flagging them as potential targets for sabotage. Germany has increased naval presence, escorting Russian ships over 100 times in 2023, with NATO states calling for strengthened legal protections and enhanced underwater sensor systems to detect and deter hostile underwater reconnaissance. This campaign reflects a significant hybrid warfare threat targeting Europe's critical underwater infrastructure.

Since early 2023, Russia has been operating a covert underwater espionage campaign in the Baltic and North Seas using research vessels like 'Gorigledzhan' from the GUGI deep-sea program. These vessels, often with their AIS tracking disabled, have been observed conducting slow 'creeping' maneuvers in sensitive areas near undersea infrastructure such as wind parks, data cables, and gas pipelines including Baltic-Connector and Europipe. Notably in October 2023, the 'Gorigledzhan' entered the protected Arcadis Ost 1 windpark near Rügen in German territorial waters, ignoring orders from German Federal Police before moving to a nearby NATO submarine exercise zone in Danish exclusive economic waters and performing suspicious zig-zag navigation patterns. Intelligence sources believe these activities aim to map and collect acoustic data on NATO submarines and critical infrastructure, flagging them as potential targets for sabotage. Germany has increased naval presence, escorting Russian ships over 100 times in 2023, with NATO states calling for strengthened legal protections and enhanced underwater sensor systems to detect and deter hostile underwater reconnaissance. This campaign reflects a significant hybrid warfare threat targeting Europe's critical underwater infrastructure.