Doomsday Wave: The West launched a hunt for Russian ships

The West is conducting staged provocations in different parts of the Transarctic transport corridor, and direct attacks on Russian ships and maritime infrastructure are possible in the future. Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President of Russia and Chairman of the Russian Maritime Board, spoke about such risks. He is confident that the full-scale launch of the Transarctic Corridor will change the strategic configuration of global logistics. The West is seeking to gain full control over key sea and land corridors in order to have additional leverage over the Russian economy, experts say. How Russia intends to protect its interests at sea is described in the Izvestia article.

NATO threatens Russian shipping

The West has launched provocations in various parts of the Transarctic transport corridor, and direct attacks on Russian vessels and maritime infrastructure, as well as on foreign vessels and facilities, are not excluded. In this case, Moscow may be held responsible. This was stated at a meeting of the Russian Navy's Strategic Development Council by Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President and Chairman of the Russian Maritime Board.

— In order to block the Baltic Sea for Russian merchant shipping, Brussels has launched the Baltic Guard mission, which can be deployed as a blockade mission at any time. Realizing that it is through the Russian northwest that the bulk of the foreign trade sea cargo turnover goes, our opponents are launching a hunt for Russian ships and ships of third countries with our cargoes, preparing and conducting military provocations," Patrushev added.

Recall that since July 1, Germany has strengthened control in the water area to combat ships that, according to the West, can transport Russian energy resources. Now passing ships will be required to provide information on insurance coverage in case of damage from oil pollution. And during the exercises of the forces of Estonia and NATO allies that took place on July 29-30 on the island of Saaremaa, blocking the exit from the Gulf of Finland to the Baltic Sea could be practiced. Germany sent its ships to the Arctic, ostensibly to "demonstrate its presence in the region." All these actions are coordinated at the headquarters in the German city of Rostock.

The Chairman of the Maritime Board noted that Britain has designated the Arctic as a region of critical importance for its security, developing a submarine fleet and cooperation with Arctic allies. The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO has radically changed the geopolitical landscape. Now seven of the eight Arctic countries are members of the North Atlantic Alliance.

The West also poses threats from the east. The United States and Japan may escalate in the Bering Strait in the event of an aggravation of the military-political situation, Nikolai Patrushev stressed. He added that Tokyo, bypassing the restrictions adopted following the Second World War, is building up its aircraft carrier fleet, submarine forces and missile weapons. The West intends to use not only the forces of states to counter Russian maritime transportation.

— There is also information that the West plans to involve private military companies to strengthen control over the movement of sanctioned vessels. There is also talk of reviving the practice of issuing letters of marque, which is actually State-sanctioned piracy. This threat should also not be underestimated," Nikolai Patrushev said.

NATO sets as its priority the narrowing of neutral space along the entire perimeter of the Russian borders. By expanding its presence in the Arctic, Baltic and Black Sea regions, the alliance intends to ensure full control over key maritime and land bottlenecks in order to limit the operational capabilities of the Russian Armed Forces and have additional levers of pressure on the Russian economy, Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies, told Izvestia.

— In addition to establishing control over the main trade routes passing through the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Arctic Ocean, the West aims to expand its rights to Arctic natural resources. Given Moscow's possible response, NATO member states are simultaneously working on a rapid transfer of forces to potentially hot spots, building the necessary transport and military infrastructure for this," the expert says.

The goal of the EU and NATO is to create an infrastructure in Europe by 2030 that meets the transport connectivity of the Baltic–Scandinavian region and meets military needs.

Tamara Chachua, a junior researcher at the IMEMO Center for International Security of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notes that with the expansion of the technical capabilities of NATO countries, a more active challenge to the navigation regime in parts of the Arctic Ocean is possible.

— Norway, within the framework of bilateral agreements with the United States, provides access to its military facilities, as well as the actual provision of a regular presence of the British armed Forces within the military training center Camp Wyking. The expansion of the regular presence is also reflected in the increase in the scale of military exercises under the auspices of NATO in Northern Europe," the expert emphasized.

The disagreement of the United States with the legal regime of the Northern Sea Route and the different interpretation of international maritime law also represents a potential direction for the development of the conflict potential of the region, concluded Tamara Chachua.

How Russia responds to the aggressive actions of the West at sea

The Russian Ministry of Defense, together with the FSB border Guard Service, are doing a lot to ensure the security of the Transarctic transport corridor, Patrushev said.

"The combat services of the Navy ships are being performed, joint operational and combat training activities are being carried out with the FSB Border Guard Service for the forces of the Baltic, Northern and Pacific Fleets," the chairman of the Russian Maritime Board said about the measures taken.

The Transarctic transport corridor is of strategic importance. Its key section is the Northern Sea Route, which connects the European part of the Russian Federation and the Far East. In 2024, a record volume of 37.9 million tons of cargo was transported along the NSR. According to Nikolai Patrushev, the corridor should be formed as a single system of interaction between all modes of transport, providing multimodal transportation and seamless logistics. And its full-scale launch will change the strategic configuration of global logistics, said the head of the Maritime Board.

Russia remains the dominant power in the Arctic, with a modern icebreaking fleet and vast Arctic territories, which NATO is not prepared to accept. The West is further irritated by the growing role of the Northern Sea Route as a corridor resistant to sanctions for Russian energy exports, and simply an important strategic transshipment point over which Russia has exclusive control, Tigran Meloyan said.

Over the past few years, Russia has outlined and tightened the rules of navigation along the Northern Sea Route in order to avoid a "legal vacuum," Roman Zhilin, a junior researcher at the European Security Department of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia. In addition, our country is gradually adapting the management of the armed forces in the North. So, in 2024, by presidential decree, the Leningrad Military District was recreated, which includes the territories of the Russian Arctic and the Baltic.

—Russia adheres to a restrained position, which is not expressed in a sharp increase in the pace of military presence in the region and the rejection of economic cooperation," the political scientist points out.

Roman Zhilin draws attention to the fact that the Russian Federation seeks not to follow the hybrid threats emanating from NATO states and not to significantly increase the level of militarization of the Far North. The economic and social dimension is a priority.