While it was still unclear what exactly happened, Pistorius suspected that the damage was inflicted deliberately. “We have to state, without knowing exactly who it came from, that this is a hybrid action,” he said, referring to the combined use of conventional military combat with other means of warfare, such as clandestine operations or cyberattacks, to target adversaries.
“We also have to assume … that it is sabotage,” Pistorius added.
Cinia, the Finnish operator of the C-Lion1 cable between Finland and Germany, said the “cut” to its communications cable was detected east of the southern tip of the Swedish island of Oland, in Sweden’s economic zone.
“Yesterday, after 4 a.m. local time in Finland, we noticed an incident in the submarine connection between Finland and Germany,” Taneli Vuorinen, Cinia’s executive vice president, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “The assumption is that the cable is fully cut because all the connections are out at the moment,” he said.
The firm said it was investigating what happened and preparing a vessel to repair the damage, a process it estimated could take five to 15 days.
In a separate incident, a 135-mile internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island lost service early Sunday, according to Lithuanian media.
Arelion, which operates the cable, confirmed in a Tuesday email that damage to its subsea fiber cable was detected on Sunday. “We currently do not know what caused it as we have not been able to examine the cable,” wrote spokesperson Martin Sjogren, adding that the damage will be repaired in the coming weeks, when weather permits.
The effects of two cable cuts on internet connectivity were not immediately clear.
The incidents recall similar events in recent years, including severe damage to an underwater gas pipeline and several telecommunication cables on the bed of the Baltic Sea last year. Investigators identified a Chinese ship, Newnew Polar Bear, as the main suspect for damaging the cables, although it remains unclear whether the damage was intentional.
German prosecutors are also still investigating the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in September 2022.
European countries have been confronting a rise in sabotage attacks linked to Russia that they say appear aimed to stir unease and increase the cost of Western support for Ukraine. In May, a fire broke out at the Diehl weapons factory outside Berlin, the same month an arson attack burned down a mall in Poland. The month before, four men were charged with carrying out an arson attack on a London warehouse containing aid for Ukraine. Russia has denied any connection to such plots.
European countries expelled hundreds of Russian diplomatic staff or suspected intelligence officers early in Russia’s war in Ukraine to avert covert operations, but officials say Moscow has increasingly turned to proxies, criminals, or online recruits.
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Publish date : 2024-11-19 13:35:00
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