In the Estonian city of Tartu, located near the Russian borders, large-scale cyber missions of the North Atlantic Alliance Cyber ​​Coalition have started. This is reported by the Supreme High Command of NATO in Europe on his page on Facebook.

“Cyber ​​Coalition is NATO’s largest exercise, led by the High Command Transformation. In the Estonian city of Tartu, 27 NATO countries, together with partner states, will work out activities to prepare and protect NATO networks as part of simulation scenarios to contain cyber threats. This year, the exercises will be held from December 2 to 6, ”the report said.

During the maneuvers, a cyber attack scenario that is close to reality will be played. The main goal is, with close coordination, to prevent the impact of this attack on the vital systems of the country and to work out the interaction of experts within the state and at the international level.

Recall that in Estonia, Cyber ​​Coalition exercises are held for the seventh time.

At the same time, back in March of this year, the Russian Security Council announced that "the United States and its NATO partners are paying serious attention to active actions in cyberspace and gaining total control over this area." This was announced in an interview with the newspaper of the Armed Forces of Russia "Red Star" by Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Mikhail Popov.

“The NATO Strategic Communications Center in Riga and the united center of excellence in the field of cyber defense in Tallinn, created by the alliance, are aimed at waging a large-scale information war. The main objective of these structures is to disable computer networks of critical facilities and the infrastructure of a potential adversary - as you understand, primarily Russia - by disrupting the functioning of public administration systems, financial institutions, enterprises, power plants, railway stations and airports, ”said Popov.

Recall that the NATO cyber center began operating in the Estonian capital in 2008. To date, representatives of 25 countries are constantly participating in the work of the cyber center.

As political analyst Alexander Asafov notes, NATO’s cyber-orders in Estonia are a kind of compensation to this Baltic country for its loyalty to the bloc.

“This is non-material compensation, as well as the political promises that the North Atlantic Alliance pays with Tallinn. At the same time, the Estonian side continues to walk in the channel fairway, still counting on more tangible and advantageous preferences, ”the expert said.

At the same time, Asafov calls the “funny” fact that NATO’s cyber-deals take place precisely on Estonian territory.

  • Cyber ​​Coalition exercises in Tallinn
  • Flickr
  • © SHAPE NATO Follow

“It’s funny enough that the exercises in cyberspace, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world and are not geographically linked at all, are held near Russian borders in Estonia. It looks strange, but nevertheless, such territorial affection allows the alliance to demonstrate to its Baltic allies that they supposedly help them withstand the far-fetched Russian threat, ”the analyst explained.

According to Asafov, however, conducting such exercises poses a potential danger to Russia.

However, Sergey Rekeda, editor-in-chief of the portal Rubaltic.ru, believes that Russia is rapidly developing its capabilities in the cyber sphere and can withstand possible attacks by the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.

“The Russian Federation has the ability to stop cyber attacks by unfriendly states,” the analyst said.

Actualization of its existence


At the same time, Cyber ​​Coalition is far from the only exercises that take place in the Baltic states.

Analysts point out that recently the Alliance has significantly increased the number of military training in the region, which is now almost monthly.

So, in Lithuania in November, began the international military exercises of NATO "Iron Wolf - 2019-II." On the official website of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Lithuania, it was reported that the maneuvers will last until November 18.

“At the training ground named after General Sylvestras Zhukauskas (Švenčioneliai district), as well as in civilian areas around the training ground, the principle of“ forces against forces ”will be used when the units participating in the exercises“ fight ”each other on the battlefield - this allows bring operations as close as possible to the real conditions of the battle, ”Lithuania's Sputnik statement cites.

It was also noted that about four thousand troops from Lithuania, Estonia, the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal will participate in the exercises. In addition, it was planned to use about a thousand units of military equipment.

Meanwhile, in Latvia, the Silver Arrow-2019 maneuvers ended in early October, and already at the end of the month, the Furious Ax exercises began under the leadership of the British Armed Forces.

In June, the large-scale NATO naval exercises Baltops 2019 were held in the Baltic Sea, in which 12 thousand military personnel from 18 alliance member countries took part, as well as 44 warships and 40 aircraft units were involved.

At the same time, Russia has repeatedly stated its concern about the NATO exercises, which have become more frequent near the borders of the Russian Federation, which do not contribute to strengthening the world security system.

  • Flags of the USA, Estonia and NATO against the background of the American fighter F-35A
  • © Ints Kalnins / Reuters

According to Alexander Asafov, by increasing the number of exercises in the Baltic states, NATO has a definite goal - to create tension on the Russian borders.

“In addition, according to the results of the exercises in the alliance, they will decide that new cyber-developments are needed. This, in turn, will lead to an increase in the budget of the block, ”the expert explained.

A similar opinion is shared by Sergei Rekeda. According to him, the North Atlantic Alliance "is beneficial to escalate the situation."

“In this way, the alliance seeks to actualize NATO’s value for the allies and its existence, which has recently been increasingly questioned,” the analyst said.

"Support the myth of the threat"

According to analysts, in order to justify their actions to increase the number of their exercises in the Baltic states, the NATO leadership claims that there is a certain “danger” on the Russian side.

So, in late November, Jens Stoltenberg named Russia among the main threats to the North Atlantic Alliance.

“Instability and unpredictability. We do not note one specific threat, but we see a much more complex and much more unpredictable security situation. Russia has become more assertive, it is actively investing in the creation of nuclear weapons, violates the nuclear weapons agreement, the INF Treaty, which prohibits the deployment of medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, ”said the Secretary General of the bloc.

Recall that it was the United States on August 2 that unilaterally withdrew from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty), accusing Moscow of violating the agreement because of 9M729 missiles. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense at the beginning of this year revealed the technical characteristics of these missiles, confirming their compliance with the agreement. Nevertheless, NATO countries ignored this.

Earlier, Russia was also unreasonably accused of cybercrime by representatives of key NATO members - the United States and Great Britain.

So, in September, the head of the US Department of Defense, Mark Esper, said during the second annual national conference on cybersecurity that the Russian Federation considers cyber war “as a way of counteracting the United States.”

  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
  • © Francois Lenoir / Reuters

Accusing Russia of cyber attacks, NATO and key member countries of the association “support the myth of the threat” from Moscow, Alexander Asafov believes.

“Indeed, the confrontation of the Russian Federation is part of the ideology of the bloc. The North Atlantic Alliance must oppose an external enemy, so the Alliance invents this enemy for itself. At one time, the bloc failed the operation to combat international terrorism, which is why it became necessary to create a new challenge in the person of Russia, ”the analyst said.

Moreover, with the help of these claims “absolutely unsubstantiated assumptions are built”, on the basis of which later various “ military doctrines and government decrees of an anti-Russian sense” are adopted in the member countries of the bloc, Asafov said.

“This is very convenient, since any allegations of cybercrime do not require proof - digital traces can be very easily faked if necessary,” the expert concluded.