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 suspect was detained near the tracks while placing explosives, which were intended to be detonated remotely, the SBU said.
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
Speaking at the European Parliament, NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary-General James Appathurai confirmed the threats against Rheinmetall's CEO, which had previously been circulating only in the media.
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.
The SBU carried out 157 special operations from Jan. 18-20 in order to "counter crimes that pose a threat to state security." The actions resulted in 222 charges and 85 detentions, the agency said.
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.
"These acts of sabotage are versions of the war that Russia has declared to the whole world, not just Ukraine," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
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.
Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's team delivered a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to Russian intelligence's suspected plans to smuggle incendiary devices onto U.S.-bound cargo planes, The New York Times reported on Jan. 14, citing unnamed sources.
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 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 U.K-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) has set up a tracking system to alert allies if a ship poses a threat to undersea cable infrastructure and track Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, London said on Jan. 7.
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.
The main suspect is 40-year-old Dieter S., a former member of Russian proxy forces in Ukraine who the prosecutors said took pictures of military facilities and planned railway sabotage.
Ukrainian partisans in Russia set fire to two locomotive trains on Dec. 30 destined for occupied regions of Ukraine, according to a Telegram post from Petro Andryushchenko, an advisor to the mayor of the Russian-occupied Mariupol.
Four facilities housing telecommunication equipment for the illegal operator Phoenix, used by Russian forces, were destroyed in the occupied part of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) reported on Dec. 29.
"The appearance of North Korean troops dressed in Russian uniforms or Iranian proxies on the borders of NATO countries is quite realistic if Russia is not stopped now. The North Korean military is already fighting in Europe. Who could have thought of this before?" Andriy Yermak said.
The Estlink 2, an undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia, was seriously damaged on Christmas Day. Authorities are investigating the incident as a possible act of sabotage.
The office was storing "humanitarian aid" for Russia's front-line military personnel, according to United Russia representative Vladimir Zhgilyov.
Russian ice hockey player Maxim Sergeyev was convicted by a Polish court on Dec. 16 on charges of espionage and sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
The source said that the aim of the operation was to disrupt a supply line used to transport fuel from Crimea to the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia.
Russia’s security services detained a Russian-German citizen for allegedly preparing a sabotage plot against railways, Russian news agency Interfax reported on Dec. 10.
An Atesh operative burned down a relay cabinet near the village of Chekhov in Moscow Oblast, disrupting Russian supply lines, the group alleged.
The suspect reportedly carried out reconnaissance missions, photographing and recording potential targets he intended to destroy with explosives or fire, Romanian prosecurors allege.
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.
Michal Koudelka, the director of the Czech Security Information Service, said on Nov. 18 that Russia was behind a flurry of bomb threats made against schools in Czechia and Slovakia in recent months.
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