MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Ukraine’s use of submersible unmanned systems could signal the opening of an "underwater front," Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), told TASS.
On March 28, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of an autonomous underwater vehicle belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
"The next step in the evolution of sabotage will be the widespread use of underwater autonomous systems. Compact, stealthy, and made from materials that make them difficult to detect, all of these technologies have been tested for a long time in NATO exercises. It’s highly likely that such systems have already been used to sabotage maritime communications, and now their widespread deployment in the Ukrainian Navy will signal the opening of a new underwater front and the emergence of a whole new range of threats," the expert noted.
According to Stepanov, the Black Sea could serve as a primary testing ground for such systems, "with the subsequent implementation of this sabotage tactic against both the fleet and underwater infrastructure." "This could be a precursor to strikes against the TurkStream pipeline and alternative gas transportation corridors, including access to the Caspian Sea. Despite the fact that it’s an enclosed water body, we know that sabotage operations with aerial drones have already been carried out there, and a scenario involving underwater systems is also entirely possible," the expert added.