Sweden conducts special operation on Russian-crewed vessel in Baltic Sea
Photo: Sweden conducted a night raid on a vessel with a Russian crew near Gotland (wikipedia.org)
On the evening of October 30, Swedish special forces conducted an operation aboard a dry cargo ship linked to Russia, according to TV4.
Journalists learned that at the start of the special operation, the vessel was located in the Baltic Sea near the northwestern coast of the island of Gotland.
During the inspection, law enforcement officers examined the documents of the crew members. Carina Skagerlind, spokesperson for the Stockholm Police District, has already issued a statement on the matter. She declined to disclose the nationalities of the sailors and did not provide additional information about the operation.
However, according to media reports, Russians are on board the vessel, most likely residents of the Kaliningrad region. It is there that the company managing the dry cargo ship has its representative office.
Journalists have suggested that the interest of Swedish law enforcement in the vessel may be related to suspicions of the company’s involvement in hybrid activities and Russian intelligence operations.
Thus, it is known that its ships were previously spotted in areas where unknown drones were later detected. As sources from European intelligence structures told the TV channel, these drones are highly likely to be operating in Moscow’s interests.
Importantly, vessels of this operator have repeatedly been subject to inspections and searches in various European countries.
According to Russian Ambassador to Sweden Sergey Belyaev, since the end of 2025, Swedish authorities have detained five cargo ships with Russian citizens among their crews. The diplomat made this statement in mid-August. Subsequently, two of the detained ships were released.
Incidentally, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense recently warned that Russia is preparing new provocations to destabilize Europe.
According to media reports, Europe plans to tighten restrictions on entry for Russians due to the threat of hybrid attacks.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned Europe of a new wave of hybrid attacks from Russia.
