Russian Secrets

“Harmony” is a secret project of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Since 2014, Russia has been connecting the ports of its nuclear-armed submarine fleet and other military bases in the far north with a network of state-of-the-art hydroacoustic underwater detection systems.

It's about a secret Russian project. It involves a lot of Western expertise, both technical and logistical. Among others, a freight forwarder from the Munich area is involved.

The secret project, called “Harmony,” is intended to protect Russian ports from NATO.

The course of the secret project has now been traced by research conducted by Süddeutsche Zeitung, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, WDR, and international partners such as the Washington Post, Le Monde, the Dutch investigative media company Pointer, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

We at Vertical52 were also involved in the months-long investigation. We were able to trace the research vessel Aurelia, the cable ship NorthernWave, and six other special ships back to 2013. To do this, we evaluated over 100 locations and tracked down the ships in the Barents Sea.

It is a search for clues. On the one hand, with the help of images from space. On the other hand, using data revealed by the ships' transponders.

Take the NorthernWave, for example. In May and June 2018, satellite images show the special ship for laying submarine cables in the port of Murmansk. Shortly before, another ship, the Industrial Cape, unloaded valuable cargo there: 750 kilometers of underwater fiber optic cable.

A German shipping company based near Munich handled the transport of the cables from Japan, earning a good million dollars in the process.

At first, the cable drums, which most likely contain the 750 kilometers of cable in question, can still be seen on the quay. Later, one of the three cable drums disappears, as does the NorthernWave.

The Northern Wave's transponder provides information about what happens next: “According to signals from its transponder, the ship is sailing into the Barents Sea toward the Russian double island of Novaya Zemlya, becoming lighter and lighter, as the depth profile reveals. Apparently, the Northern Wave is laying cables on the seabed during its voyage.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

In August and October, the procedure is repeated with the second and third cable drums.

The cables are intended to serve the “Harmony” project. This is the conclusion reached by the investigative network (NDR, WDR, and SZ) and their international partners such as the Washington Post, Le Monde, the Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and The Times. The participating media outlets published their analyses under the project name “Russian Secrets.”

But what is the purpose of this secret Russian operation? “Since 2014, Russia has been connecting the ports of its nuclear-armed submarine fleet and other military bases in the far north with a network of state-of-the-art hydroacoustic underwater detection systems,” writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung in its analysis.

In its article, the SZ not only discusses the background of the secret project, but also how Russia is proceeding in detail to achieve its goal of connecting the ports.

This involves, not least, sham directors, sham shareholders, and offshore companies. A Nuremberg businessman with a Russian passport appeared in court in Frankfurt am Main in the summer. “Alexander S. is said to have been working as a procurer for the ‘Harmonie’ project between 2021 and 2024.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Click here for the article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The ARD media library also has the NDR documentary.

The NDR has also published an article on how they were able to uncover the “Russian Secrets.”

The Tagesschau has also reported on the story.