Swedish special forces raid Russian-linked vessel in Baltic Sea
Ілюстративне фото: REUTERS
On the evening of October 30, Swedish special forces raided a Russian-bound cargo ship in the Baltic Sea near the island of Gotland. Law enforcement officers checked the crew and documents, but details of the operation are not being disclosed.
This is reported by TV4 .
The vessel was near the northwestern coast of the island of Gotland. Stockholm Police District spokeswoman Karina Skagerlind confirmed that officers had checked the crew and their documents. She did not disclose the nationalities of the crew members or details of the raid.
According to journalists, there were Russian citizens on board, presumably residents of the Kaliningrad region. The company that operates the dry cargo ship has a representative office there.
The raid may be related to suspicions of the company’s involvement in Russian hybrid activities and intelligence operations. According to the publication, the operator’s vessels have previously been spotted in areas where unidentified drones were later detected.
The channel’s sources in European intelligence agencies believe that the company’s ships “most likely act in the interests of the Russian state.”
The vessels of this operator have repeatedly become objects of inspections and searches in various European countries.
By the way, since the beginning of October, Russian drones have attacked seven merchant ships off the coast of Bulgaria and Romania . More than 20 sailors were killed in the strikes. Some of the attacks occurred in the territorial waters of NATO countries or near their borders, which increases fears of escalation from Russia.
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