Against the backdrop of the energy market crisis triggered by Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, Russian intelligence services are conducting a high-intensity campaign aimed at countering sanctions pressure in the energy sector and restoring Russia’s position on the global energy market.
This is stated in a report by the monitoring group of the Center for Defense Reforms obtained by Guildhall.
According to the report, the key target audience of the campaign is the European Union, while the main efforts are focused on discrediting the sanctions regime as allegedly harmful to the EU amid the crisis caused by the war around Iran. In this effort, Russia is making use of the precedent of the easing of U.S. energy sanctions against Russia.
Russia is also working to deepen the EU’s dependence on supplies of Russian LNG while simultaneously undermining the positions of the United States and Qatar in the European liquefied natural gas market.
According to the Center for Defense Reforms, as part of its work with the European audience, Russia is pursuing efforts to strengthen its position in the gas market of Southern Europe. These efforts are accompanied by attempts to discredit Ukraine as an alleged terrorist state that had supposedly intended to blow up the Blue Stream gas pipeline.
As the document states, a significant share of Russia’s efforts is also aimed at strengthening and expanding its position in the energy market of East Asia.
According to the analysts, part of Russia’s efforts is also directed at Japan. In particular, work is underway aimed at persuading the Japanese government to reverse its decision to abandon the port of Kozmino (Vladivostok).
Separately, efforts are being made to counter restrictive measures targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet.” Russia is trying to discredit the measures taken by European countries, including the United Kingdom, to intercept such vessels.
Earlier, we reported that the public withdrawal of the largest Swiss traders from the Russian oil market turned out to be little more than a formality, while Switzerland itself retained its status as a key hub for the export of Russian raw materials.
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