Russia has tried to map the energy network of the Netherlands to learn how it can “disrupt and sabotage” its infrastructure, General Jan Swillens, director of the secret services of the army of this country, the MIVD, has assured today. “The threats against the Netherlands are much less far away than we initially thought,” Swillens warned at a press conference with the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIDV) for the presentation of their annual joint report in which they revealed several incidents that allow them to accuse Moscow of planning acts of sabotage.
Last fall, they have said, they detected a Russian ship that was trying to gather information on the situation of the wind mills in the North Sea. The ship was diverted by the coast guard. But, in the opinion of the Dutch intelligence services, their activities, which have long warned that it is possible to secretly attack other essential facilities, such as drinking water facilities, were clearly “preparations for the disturbance and sabotage” of the energy networks of the country.
Russia is also interested in other underwater infrastructure such as gas pipelines and internet cables, Haya said a week after NATO defense ministers decided last week to create a new coordination cell to monitor the underwater infrastructure of their 30 countries. members. The Alliance remains alert and thus makes permanent the surveillance and analysis structures set up last year as a result of the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, whose authorship has not been clarified.
In the opinion of the Dutch general, the intensity of Russia’s campaign of physical and digital sabotage against its western neighbors is unprecedented. “Sometimes it seems like little is happening, but looks are deceptive. There are cyber-attacks every day, both on companies and institutions and embassies. And sometimes physically, like the spy ship that was heading towards our North Sea wind farms and planning to to obtain information without being detected. He intended to attack those energy infrastructures. The action failed, but we were close. Due to the intensity of the attacks on all fronts, it is not possible to contain everything, 100% coverage is not possible,” he said. admitted Swillens in statements collected by the newspaper Algemene Dagblad.
However, the effects of these actions are generally controllable. “Fortunately, most Russian cyberattack attempts are detected early or remedied quickly. Ukrainian intelligence services are resilient and well-informed. They receive a lot of help from Western intelligence agencies and companies,” added the director of the Dutch security services, Erik Akerboom.
The revelations and accusations coincide with the expulsion, this weekend, of 17 Russian diplomats were expelled from the country. The Dutch government accuses Russia of trying to place new officials as diplomats at its embassy in The Hague, whom they already know for sure are intelligence officers. Akerboom has linked these moves to increased spying and sabotage attempts by Russia against Europe.
The annual report of Dutch intelligence believes that neither Russia nor Ukraine will achieve their objectives in the short term, so the war will last and will continue to have political and economic consequences worldwide, for example the increase in social discontent . “The extremist anti-establishment movement is predominantly pro-Russian and presents President Putin as a savior fighting against the evil elite of the West,” they warn. Although it is not the majority opinion in the country, these groups are susceptible to covert influences from Russia.