Russian research ships used for espionage purposes sighted off the Dutch coast

Russian spy ships have been hiding off the coast of the Netherlands in recent months. The two spy ships are said to be in the vicinity of gas pipelines, data cables, and wind farms, according to the investigative journalism platform Pointer.

The investigative platform's research revealed that the Russian spy ships were the two research ships Admiral Vladimirsky and Yevgeny Gorigledzhan. The two ships were last sighted off the Dutch coast a few months ago. From there, underwater drones are allegedly being used for espionage and sabotage purposes. However, there is no evidence of this, as the Dutch Coast Guard and the Navy do not have the capacity to investigate the matter.

At the end of June, the research ship Admiral Vladimirsky was off Haarlem. Normally, these ships are only deployed near the Antarctic to explore the seabed there. In this case, however, the Russian research ship was just motionless in the Dutch part of the North Sea. Shortly after, the Admiral Vladimirsky was observed by two warships of the Dutch Navy for around 10 days. However, nothing conspicuous was discovered during this time.

According to Pointer, this is because the Dutch warships do not have permission to stop the Vladimirsky. In addition, the Dutch Navy warships are not built in such a way that they can observe what is happening underwater, unlike the Russian research ship.

VVD MEP Bart Groothuis is worried about the situation and thinks the situation is very serious. “They are not there to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific sense but rather to see how they can possibly sabotage it. Or otherwise, be able to preposition themselves in the long term to sabotage things at their moment of choice,” he told Pointer.

Overall, the situation is anything but easy for the Netherlands to handle. According to the international maritime law, the Russians are allowed to sail freely through the Netherlands' exclusive economic zone (EEZ), in which the Russian research ships are currently located.

According to Patrick Bolder of the Hague think tank HCSS, the Dutch navy's room for maneuver is rather limited. "You would say that the navy is allowed to act, but the navy is actually only intended to act militarily," he told Pointer.

However, this is not yet a situation in which the military has to intervene directly, as long as there is no clear evidence of Russia's espionage attempts.