The US Central Intelligence Agency has warned Poland of a possible Russian provocation targeting underwater telecommunications infrastructure, including cables in the Baltic Sea.
Polskie Radio 24 reported this, citing Newsweek.
According to media reports, Russia has conducted detailed reconnaissance of the routes of some undersea cables that are important to international financial systems. These include not only transatlantic cables connecting Europe and North America, but also links in the Baltic Sea between Poland and Scandinavia, as well as cables connecting the United Kingdom with continental Europe.
According to the reports, the US recommended that Poland prepare its banking system for the possibility that some of this infrastructure could be damaged. Such a scenario could disrupt data exchange between banks.
The undersea cable network has redundant routes, meaning that damage to a single cable would not result in a complete communications blackout, as traffic could be redirected through other connections.
According to the report, the CIA warning also concerned a broader threat of Russian hybrid operations against Poland. Among the possible scenarios cited by journalists is a provocation that Moscow could attempt to portray as an attack originating from Polish territory, potentially involving a drone.
