Multiple incidents affecting undersea internet cables have been reported by infrastructure operators, impacting several NATO nations.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated on Tuesday that the damage to two Baltic Sea internet cables connecting NATO members appears to be a deliberate act of sabotage.
Infrastructure operators reported damage to two separate cables on Sunday and Monday. Similar incidents have occurred in the region over the past year. In a previous case, Finland and Estonia initially suspected Russia, but later determined a Chinese cargo ship’s anchor caused the damage.
Speaking at an EU ministerial meeting in Brussels, Pistorius said, “No one believes that these cables were severed by accident.”
Pistorius described the incident as a “hybrid” attack, acknowledging the unknown perpetrator, and stated there’s “clear indication that something is going on here.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Finnish counterpart Elina Valtonen commented that “the fact that such an incident immediately raises the suspicion of deliberate damage speaks volumes about the instability of our time.”
Cinia, a Finnish state-owned data services provider, reported damage to its C-Lion1 cable on Monday evening. This 1,173-kilometer (729-mile) cable connects Helsinki and Rostock. The damaged section is in Swedish waters, away from main shipping lanes. Cinia initially suspected anchor damage, but a spokesperson stated, “at the moment, there isn’t a possibility to assess the reason for the cable break.”
The C-Lion1 cable runs near the damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines, which were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. While Western media suggested Ukrainian involvement, Russian officials, including President Putin, blamed the US.
Another cable, the BCS East-West-Interlink connecting Lithuania and Sweden, was also severely damaged on Sunday. The cause remains undetermined.
Last Monday, Nikolay Patrushev, an aide to President Putin, alleged that the US and UK were considering attacks on “infrastructure facilities, including undersea fiber optic cables.”