Western government officials believe Moscow was likely behind the sabotaging of two fiber-optic data cables running below the Baltic Sea, connecting Nordic countries to mainland Europe.
Leaders have yet to officially accuse Russia of cutting these communication lines, and have not revealed any evidence for their suspicion, but they do believe Moscow to be “the prime suspect,” according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
NATO in a July panel discussion referred to the Baltic Sea as a “NATO lake” after Finland and Sweden, the two countries affected by the cable sabotage, joined the alliance. Eight NATO countries now surround the Baltic, with a ninth—Norway—border the sea lanes entering it.
After German defense minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday that the incidents were acts of “hybrid” warfare, Finnish foreign minister Elina Valtonen and her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, suggested in a joint statement that “our European security is not only threatened by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine but also by the hybrid warfare of malicious actors.”
Other reports implicate a Chinese vessel in the suspected sabotage. Investigators say the bulk carrier—Yi Peng 3, which has since been detained by the Danish Navy—was en route to Egypt from Russia and had a Russian captain, although this last detail has not been independently verified.
In fact, it is likely that very few facts regarding the incident will be confirmed any time soon, with one legal expert telling Newsweek that an official investigation “could span years.”
The cables were cut separately on Sunday and Monday morning and only caused minor problems.
Western media reports highlight that “the incidents came at a time of heightened tension with Russia” (BBC), and that officials recently warned “Moscow was likely to target critical undersea infrastructure” (CNN).
The Kremlin described this finger-pointing as “laughable,” adding that “it’s quite absurd to keep blaming Russia for everything without any grounds.”
