Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says the British government plans to commit “two specialist ships” to the task of protecting vital underwater cables which could be attacked by Russia or other hostile foreign powers.
Wallace told the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham the “mysterious” damage suffered by the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic on Sept. 26 was a reminder of how “fragile” the British economy was to such an attack on its underwater infrastructure.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said claims the leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were because of Russian sabotage was “predictably stupid” but he said, “This looks like some kind of terrorist act, possibly at the state level.”…