German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said damage to two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea looks like an act of sabotage and a “hybrid action”, without knowing who is to blame.
A 1,170km (730-mile) telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany was severed in the early hours of Monday, while a 218km internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island stopped working on Sunday.
The incidents came at a time of heightened tension with Russia and Pistorius said “nobody believes that these cables were cut accidentally”.
A series of incidents involving Baltic pipelines have heightened fears of sabotage since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Germany and Finland have both said they are “deeply concerned” by the severing of the C-Lion1 communications cable, adding that Europe’s security is threatened by Russia’s war, “but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors”. —BBC