ENEMY AT THE SHORE

Oil platforms particularly susceptible to hostile action Country not prepared for conflict, security experts say

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SCOTTISH oil fields, wind farms and airports could be targeted in future incursions by Russian drones, security experts have warned.

It comes amid rising tension in Europe as Vladimir Putin has repeatedly tested NATO's air defences.

Last Wednesday, EU chiefs met in Copenhagen where they backed plans to build a "drone wall" around the continent to quickly detect, then track and destroy Russian drones.

The Danish capital remains on high alert after drones over the city's airport disrupted flights and also flew near oil fields in the North Sea late last month. In Norway, authorities shut the airspace at Oslo airport for three hours after a drone was seen.

It follows earlier incursions in Estonia and Poland that marked a major escalation in tensions between the western military alliance and the Russian dictator amid his brutal war on Ukraine.

Multiple security experts spoke to the Sunday Mail about how oil rigs are particularly vulnerable both to spying and to potential future attacks.

Colonel Philip Ingram MBE, a former military intelligence officer, said: "If Russia wanted to build up a conflict and cause disruption, a couple of oil and gas rigs bursting into flames before sinking, causing a huge environmental catastrophe in the North Sea, would tie up assets as well as impact on supplies.

"Other precursor actions to a conflict would include cutting internet cables, cutting electrical pipelines and just disrupting the normal way of life of people."

He said the West was in a state of "hybrid conflict" with Putin rather than all-out war.