The European Union and NATO must strengthen cooperation to protect critical energy infrastructure from attacks, which pose a growing threat to European stability. The Kremlin, with its history of weaponizing energy, remains a prime suspect. NATO must properly secure the Baltic Sea — the so-called NATO lake. The Baltic states achieved
According to Politico, European countries are drafting new legislation that would enable potential seizures of Russian oil tankers on legal grounds.
The damage comes amid a series of recent disruptions to undersea telecom and power cables in the Baltic Sea. Western experts and officials have accused Russia of engaging in hybrid warfare against countries supporting Ukraine.
The vessel, which operates under the Norwegian flag and travels between St. Petersburg and Murmansk, was seized in Tromso at Latvia's request following a local court order.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, concerns over the security of energy and communication infrastructure in the Baltic Sea intensified. Initially, focus was placed on the threat of hybrid attacks from Russia. However, it became evident that Russian military vessels and so-called "research" ships were actively mapping the
According to information obtained by AP from a ship-tracker software, the Malta-flagged Vezhen departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga several days earlier and was navigating near the site of damage.
An underwater fiber optic cable belonging to the Latvian State Radio and Television Broadcasting Center (LVRTC) was significantly damaged on Jan. 26, reportedly due to external impact, according to LVRTC representative Vineta Sprugaine.
Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe have suggested that recent incidents damaging critical cables in the Baltic Sea were accidental, according to a Washington Post report. Western geostrategic self-deception has overly emphasized fears of escalation and cornering Russia. It would be naïve to assume that the repeated cutting
Amid a series of incidents that have damaged critical cables in the Baltic Sea, intelligence services in the U.S. and Europe are increasingly convinced that accidents led to the incidents, according to a new report by the Washington Post on Jan. 19.
A French maritime patrol aircraft was the target of intimidation tactics over the Baltic Sea overnight on Jan. 17, after the aircraft was locked onto by the radar of a Russian ground-to-air defense system, France's Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on social media.
The summit welcomed NATO’s "Baltic Sentry" mission, aimed at monitoring, deterring, and responding to potential threats. Up to 10 NATO vessels will patrol the Baltic Sea until April, enhancing situational awareness and protecting critical undersea infrastructure.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Baltic Sea region has faced numerous disruptions to power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines.
Sweden will increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea through the deployment of three warships and a radar reconnaissance aircraft in response to the suspected sabotage of several underwater cables, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Jan. 12.
"The towing convoy is moving eastwards to a position northeast of Cape Arkona (Rügen)," Germany's Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) said, referring to the German island in the southwestern part of the Baltic Sea.
The meeting, co-organized by Finland and Estonia, will focus on enhancing NATO's presence in the Baltic Sea and responding to risks posed by Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a group of tankers allegedly used for sanction evasion and espionage.
A fleet of up to 10 NATO vessels will guard the infrastructure under the Baltic Sea until April, the Finnish broadcaster YLE reported on Jan. 7 after several cables were cut in suspected sabotage.
The Helsinki District Court has ruled to keep the oil tanker — suspected of belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet" — under seizure, despite an appeal from the ship's owner.
The damaged cable is one of several recent incidents in the Baltic Sea under investigation as possible acts of sabotage.
NATO allies met on Dec. 30 to address the security of critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, following damage to undersea cables connecting Estonia and Finland several days earlier.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Dec. 27 that "NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea" following the recent damage to the Estlink 2 power cable in the Gulf of Finland likely caused by Russia.
The F-35s, deployed under NATO’s eastern airspace monitoring mission, intercepted a Russian An-72 transport aircraft and an SU-24 reconnaissance aircraft.
The comments came shortly after a Russian warship fired a warning shot at a German military helicopter patrolling the Baltic Sea.
Data from maritime tracking group MarineTraffic shows the Yi Peng 3, traveling from Russia to Egypt, passed near the Swedish-Lithuanian and Finnish-German cables on Nov. 17 and Nov. 18, the dates the cables were damaged.
Telecom cables linking two Nordic countries with Germany and Lithuania were cut on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, raising suspicion of sabotage, various media outlets reported on Nov. 18.
For Zygimantas Pavilionis, a member of the Lithuanian parliament, history is repeating itself: The Kremlin’s military sights are set on Europe beyond Ukraine and the U.S. is not listening to warnings from the Baltics. “In Europe, they listen to the Baltics, but in America, they are so arrogant
Germany's Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft were scrambled due to a flight of a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance plane in over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, the German Air Force said on Oct. 16.
Lithuania announced this week it had blocked and fortified a bridge over the Nieman River linking it to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, the latest in a series of escalations in the Baltic Sea region. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine exacerbated fears of a potential open conflict between Moscow and
The Russian Baltic Fleet minesweeper Alexander Obukhov was put out of action thanks to a sabotage operation by Ukraine's military intelligence, the agency said on Oct. 7.
Nikolai Patrushev, an advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, accused the West on Sept. 27 of attempting to isolate Kaliningrad Oblast by disrupting transportation links between the exclave and mainland Russia. Speaking at a meeting in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, Patrushev claimed
NATO jets intercepted six Russian aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea without transponders or a flight plan over the past two days, the Latvian Air Force reported late on Sept. 21.
Czech President Petr Pavel said that he had no verified information on whether Kyiv was involved in the operation to blow up the gas pipelines.
The man, a diving instructor introduced simply as Volodymyr Z., was last seen in a Polish town west of Warsaw, but his current whereabouts are unknown, the investigation by ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), and Die Zeit said.
(Updated: )
