This month, 1,000 people chose to support the Kyiv Independent. Can we count on you, too?
Become a member
Skip to content
Edit post

Severed internet cables raise suspicion of sabotage in Baltic Sea

by Boldizsar Gyori November 19, 2024 12:32 PM  (Updated: ) 2 min read
Photo for illustrative purposes: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rostock: The Greek oil tanker "Minerva Zenobia" is accompanied by tugboats as it travels through the deepened sea channel on Nov. 4, 2024. (Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Editor's note: The article was updated with comments from German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius for the media.

Telecom cables linking two Nordic countries with Germany and Lithuania were cut at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, raising suspicion of sabotage, various media outlets reported on Nov. 18.

While the circumstances of the incident remain unclear, the reports come amid mounting warnings of Russian hybrid and sabotage operations across Western countries, namely in the Baltic Sea region.

One of the cables, a 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) long one linking Helsinki with the German port of Rostock, stopped working on Nov. 18, while the shorter, a 218-kilometer-long (135 miles) link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island, went out of service on Nov. 17, The Guardian reported.

Gotland, Sweden's largest island, is located about 330 kilometers (around 200 miles) north of the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, the headquarters of Russia's Baltic Fleet, and is strategically important for the defense of the Baltic Sea region.

"We are deeply concerned about the severed undersea cable connecting Finland and Germany in the Baltic Sea. The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage," a joint statement by Germany and Finland read.

The parties announced an investigation.

"Our European security is not only under threat from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors," the statement added.

Speaking to the media, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said it remains unclear who was behind the "hybrid" operation.

"No one believes that these cables were cut accidentally . . . Therefore we have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action," Pistorius told the Financial Times.

"And we also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage."

This incident comes a little more than two years after unknown actors blew up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.

Swedish commander: Putin aims to control Baltic Sea, has his eye on Gotland Island
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be seeking dominance over the Baltic Sea and has his sights on the island of Gotland, Micael Byden, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, said in an interview with RND published on May 21.
Let’s see how far we can go?
We’ve been amazed by your support. We’ve reached our initial goal of finding 1,000 new paying members. We still have till the end of our birthday campaign — with more support, we can do even more good journalism. Over 13,000 people are standing behind us. Can we count on you, too?
Show us support this birthday month
Become a member
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

1:50 PM  (Updated: )

Reuters reports Assad may have died in plane crash, later removes report.

Reuters on Dec. 8 reported, citing its Syrian sources that "there was a very high probability that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have been killed in a plane crash" as he was fleeing Damascus following its capture by rebels. Reuters later deleted the information from its reporting.
11:50 PM

US announces $988 million military aid package for Ukraine.

The latest aid package will be pulled through the remaining $2 billion in funding from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) — a Pentagon-led program for supplying arms to Ukraine through contracts with U.S. defense companies.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.