In recent days, three key pieces of infrastructure, constituting the cable system connecting Estonia with Finland and Sweden, as well as the Estonia–Finland pipeline, were damaged at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Was this a planned ‘false flag’ operation initiated by the Russian Federation? Was the loss of the anchor by the Chinese ship purely an accident? How should Poland protect its own critical infrastructure, including the Baltic Pipe pipeline and the Swinoujscie gas port? These questions and more were answered by former GROM special unit commander – Colonel Piotr Gąstal – in an interview with Piotr Zychowicz, host of the YouTube channel ‘Historia Real’.

Piotr Zychowicz: Colonel, I propose to start with what is happening in the Baltic (…) a ‘serial killer of cables and pipelines’ is prowling. Three such installations have been ruptured: a pipeline connecting Finland to Estonia (Baltic Collector), a cable connecting Finland to Estonia, and a cable connecting Estonia to Sweden in the Baltic Sea. Was it sabotage?

Res. Col. Piotr Gąstał: There’s a little bit of that going on. It could be sabotage, because the Russians are as capable as possible of carrying out this type of operation. They could do it in revenge for damaging their own gas pipeline right at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Recent footage, probably from yesterday, shows a Chinese ship sailing without an anchor, and an object found near one of those cables, the very one connecting Finland to Estonia, indicates that it is a lost anchor. I hope it’s lost and wasn’t intentionally lowered to snag on the cables at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. I don’t want to believe that the Chinese would undertake such sabotage attempts, but in these times and the dynamically changing international situation, one has to consider all scenarios (…). The ability of NATO countries to protect critical infrastructure can be tested in this way (…).

Piotr Zychowicz: Colonel, I caught on to the thread where you said that this could be revenge from the Russians for the destruction of Nord Stream 2 at the beginning of the war. Who destroyed Nord Stream 2 (…)?

Res. Col. Piotr Gąstał: (…) there are a lot of players around the Baltic Sea who would have been on hand to disrupt this gas pipeline, to damage it. Who executed it? With 100% certainty we don’t know so far, but such operations are possible, and most special units, at least in the Baltic States, are able to descend to such depths, plant explosives or otherwise carry out diversions against such critical infrastructure installations.

Piotr Zychowicz: (…) a communiqué from the Chinese police has been revealed, saying that there is a trace of an anchor dragging on the bottom for several kilometers as if looking for something and wanting to break something. There are similar traces around Sweden. Could this be a ‘false flag’ operation? (…).

Res. Col. Piotr Gąstał: Of course it is. Especially since the crew may be Russian. Just because a ship has a foreign flag doesn’t mean that the sailors can’t be Russian, so all these scenarios could be true. If we are talking about dragging the anchor for several kilometers then let’s be honest – the captain of the ship would immediately notice something like that if that anchor accidentally dislodged and fell (…).

Res. Col. Piotr Gąstał also talked about the specialized equipment of divers of special forces units. In addition, the threads of the Israeli military operation to recapture hostages kidnapped by Hamas and the Ukrainian assassination commandos operating in the Russian Federation were touched upon.

 

We encourage you to read the entire interview available below: