This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. The Russian President is reportedly eyeing up Ireland's maritime economic zone with a plan to send naval troops 240 km off the southwest coast of Ireland. Russian Defence Forces Reservist Robert Gilbey said the area identified by Russia was ideal for protecting a submarine. It comes as Russia looks posed to invade Ukraine as military tensions increase at the Russia-Ukraine border with the piling up of 100,000 Russian troops.
But Mr Gibley warned that this is not the first time a Russian operation has caused panic in the British Isles. In 2017, a Russian spy ship that can cut underwater cables from the Irish coastline was also spotted off the Irish coastline in the summer of 2021. Putin's Yantar vessel, which was seen north of Mayo and Donegal, was right by a commercial sub-sea cable. The cables carry huge volumes of Internet traffic between Europe and the US. The cables are used by companies like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google to transmit large amounts of data from Irish servers around the world.
Eight of them are linked to Britain and four to the US. There are fears that the internet could go out if Russia were to cut those cables. Some Russian ships are supposedly equipped with robotic arms that can tamper with or even cut key cables. The Yantar vessel was loaded with manned and remote-operated submersibles that are used to attach listening devices to the undersea cables. Mr Coveney raised concerns about the Kremlin's exercises to Russia's ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov. READ MORE: End of the World warning as evidence found for sixth mass extinction
Archaeologists baffled by the skeleton that had been rolled into a ditch REPORT Tourist spots are under threat due to mega iceberg leaks 152 tons of water REVEAL Truss close to Brexit deal as UK funds into EU project INSIGHT In fact, the cables are supposed to be the garda force's responsibility under the 2004 Maritime Security Act. It doesn't have the capacity to fulfill the role. John Brady, Sinn Fein spokesman for defence, said there were vessels entering Ireland's exclusive economic zone that we don't have the ability to monitor. We have no idea what is happening beneath the surface. We do not know if devices are being fitted to these data cables or if they are being interfered with. John Sipher, a former CIA officer and now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, said it was naive to think Russia would not tamper with these cables. He said that Russian intelligence and subversion is ongoing and relentless. No amount of engagement or appeasement works.