Russian Navy Degraded and Forced to Protect its Own Shipping in the Baltic

As part of Operation Baltic Sentry, which continues in the Baltic Sea, the Russian Navy is forced to spend significant resources on protecting its own shipping. This has significantly limited its capabilities in other regions, particularly in the Mediterranean.

This was stated at a briefing by a senior NATO military representative, a Militarnyi correspondent reports.

“Today, Russia has only a few ships in the Mediterranean, largely because it has lost port access and cannot move forces there from the Black Sea. The Black Sea Fleet itself is also seriously degraded,” he said.

In addition, the Russians also have to spend a lot of time patrolling the Baltic to protect their own assets. This is also directly related to Baltic Sentry, as the operation has seen Allied forces make thousands of radio calls to merchant shipping, ensuring constant monitoring of the sea area. This has reduced the activity of the so-called “shadow fleet”.

“Regardless of whether a vessel is operating legally or not, its crew seeks to earn money and avoid risks. Therefore, the Baltic Sentry operation has probably dissuaded some of the malicious activity,” the officer said.

Using innovations

Another aspect of the operation is testing innovative technologies in the field of maritime security.

“Baltic Sentry has become a platform for testing innovations in several ways. Last summer we tested unmanned surface vessels in the Baltic Sea, looking for ways to integrate such systems into our security architecture,” he explained.

According to the representative of the Alliance, drones are already integrated into the surveillance system, but the Allies continue to add new sensors and artificial intelligence algorithms to better understand the situation at sea 24/7 throughout the year.

“We are experimenting with software that helps to identify shipping ‘life patterns’ faster and respond to suspicious activity. In these aspects, Baltic Sentry is considered a successful initiative,” he emphasized.

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He emphasized that security is not static, and NATO intends to support the Baltic Sentry operation in the long term as part of a sustainable maritime security architecture in the region.

As a reminder, Estonia intends to authorize the Defense Forces to use military force against merchant ships in case of suspected attempts to damage submarine cables and other critical infrastructure.