March 13, 2025 (EIRNS)—Nikolay Patrushev, Chairman of the Maritime Board and aide to the Russian President, gave an interview to Russia’s National Defense magazine in which he warned that NATO is planning on escalating its provocations in the Baltic Sea. “The information we have says that the [NATO] navy is planning to intensify terrorist activities against Russian underwater pipelines, tankers, and bulk carriers,” he said, reported TASS.
Patrushev added that “naval provocations” have been employed by Western countries for subversive work since the Cold War, and “they do not intend to abandon their use…. It is no coincidence that special attention is being paid to the sabotage units of the NATO navies as part of ongoing exercises and combat training programs,” the presidential aide said.
“Since the end of last year, additional forces have been deployed to the Baltic Sea as part of Operation Baltic Sentry, allegedly to counter increased sabotage. Experts are inclined to believe that the NATO countries themselves are the organizers, sponsors, and instigators of the increased frequency of emergency situations on merchant ships and the failure of underwater infrastructure,” he said.
Patrushev also charged that Europe, including the European part of NATO, is still bent on containing Russia, despite the rapprochement between Moscow and Washington. “Judging by the outcomes of the recent European Union summit, which resolved to pursue large-scale militarization, military threats will only escalate,” he said.
Patrushev said that he believes that the worsening situation is being orchestrated by London, which is “interested in undermining efforts to normalize US-Russian relations and in disrupting negotiations regarding Ukraine…. The European wing of NATO continues to implement its policy of containing Russia in the Baltic region while disregarding the importance of restoring the dialogue between Moscow and Washington,” Patrushev explained.
