Cable Damage Report
Damage has been reported to an undersea communications cable connecting Estonia and Sweden, according to the Swedish government.
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Minister of Civil Defence, stated that the cable was severely damaged but not entirely obliterated.
Suspected Sabotage
It is believed that the Baltic cable was compromised concurrently with the harm to a gas pipeline that connected Finland and Estonia earlier this month.
International Reactions
Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, refuted the allegation, describing it as “baseless.” Finland stated a week ago that it was probable that the conduit was sabotaged on purpose.
Investigation and Suspects
Mr. Bohlin stated at a press conference on Tuesday that the cause of the damage is still unclear. He additionally stated that Swedish investigators will collaborate with their Estonian and Finnish counterparts.
On October 8, damage to the natural gas conduit connecting Finland and Estonia was discovered. The Finnish government reported that both the conduit and a telecommunications cable sustained two points of damage.
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Two ships that were operational in the vicinity where the damage was discovered on the day of the incident were independently identified by Finnish investigators. They stated that one vessel was flagged by Russia and the other was owned by China.
Mr. Bohlin said the harm happened “physically close by and at the same time” as the previous occurrence. Arelion, a Swedish network, has verified the damage to one of its fibre optic cables.
Subsea Infrastructure Concerns
Baltic Sea nations have been significantly more vigilant concerning the possibility of subsea infrastructure sabotage ever since September of last year, when a sequence of explosives rendered inoperable the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The identity of the state or actor responsible for the assault on Nord Stream 2, a facility originally designed to convey natural gas from Russia to Germany but never operational, is still unknown.
Reportedly, a pro-Ukrainian group was not responsible for the explosions, according to Ukraine. Additionally, Russia has denied any involvement.
Members of the United Kingdom-led Joint Expeditionary Force were cautioned last week by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson regarding the susceptibility of subsea data cables to sabotage.
Mr. Kristersson stated on Friday, “A spaghetti of cables lies entangled in the seabed,” adding that the infrastructure was critical to the modern economy but susceptible to attack.
Sweden submitted an application to join NATO concurrently with Finland in 2022. However, while the April approval of Finland’s accession contrasts with Sweden’s candidature being obstructed by opposition from Hungary and Turkey, the latter continues to be a non-member of the alliance.
