A Russian sonar (sound navigation and ranging device – ed.) designed to detect and locate submarines was found on the Curonian (Courish) Spit in Lithuania on Saturday.

The Lithuanian Navy received a report on 3 February from a civilian about the discovery of a device with Russian inscriptions on it on the Curonian Spit.

Naval experts identified the device as a Russian-made sonar used to gather intelligence and locate submarines.

Photo of the lithuanian military

The device is no longer in service and is currently stored in a naval warehouse.

The military said the device uses hydroacoustic sensors to detect movement and the passage of large underwater objects in the vicinity.

They also noted that similar Russian sonars were detected in 2021 in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Lithuania and in the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Last February, Norwegian intelligence indicated that Russia had begun deploying vessels armed with tactical nuclear weapons in the Baltic Sea for the first time in 30 years.

Public news outlets in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, following a joint investigation, suggested that Russian warships and civilian "ghost ships" in the Baltic and North Seas were collecting data for sabotage against wind farms, gas pipelines and communication cables.