Underseas data cables severed between Finland-Germany, Lithuania-Sweden, sabotage suspected

The underseas data communication cables between Finland and Germany were reportedly severed in the Baltic Sea on Monday, with the data cables between Lithuania and Sweden also reported damaged.

Finnish and German officials have now launched an investigation into the matter over “deep concerns” the critical infrastructure damage was an act of “intentional” sabotage by nefarious outside forces.

One of the cables was cut on Sunday, the other on Monday, Reuters reports.

The 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) submerged fiber optic communication cables between Helsinki and the German port of Rostock were said to have stopped working around 2:00 a.m. local time on Monday, according to Cinia, the Finnish majority state-owned telecoms company in charge of the ables.

Meanwhile, another 218 km (135-mile) fiber optic cable between Lithuania and Sweden's Gotland Island went down about 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Lithuanian National Television and Radio outlet LRT, reported Sweden's national public news outlet SVT.

“The submarine fiber communications cable C-Lion-1 between Finland and Germany has been cut, “ posted news content aggregator @Visegrad24.

“It’s the only cable connecting Finland with Central Europe. A vessel has set out to investigate the cause,” the post said of the slicing.

BREAKING:

The submarine fiber communications cable C-Lion-1 between Finland and Germany has been cut.

It’s the only cable connecting Finland with Central Europe. A vessel has set out to investigate the cause. pic.twitter.com/grynya4BBm

undefined Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 18, 2024

The cable link between Sweden and Lithuania is owned and operated by Sweden's telecommunications network provider Arelion which carries Lithuania's internet traffic, a spokesperson for Sweden’s Telia Company said, the parent company of Lithuanian internet provider Telia Lietuva.

Cinia's chief executive Ari-Jussi Knaapila, at a news conference on Monday, said that the damage to the Finnish-German cable could require five to 15 days to repair. He also mentioned that no explosions had been recorded taking place in connection with the damage.

Kremlin interference?

Located in northern Europe, the Baltic Sea is an active commercial shipping route and is surrounded by nine countries, including Russia, said Reuters. The massive internet cables lie unprotected on the seabed, according to SVT.

This week's incident mimics several other occurrences of damage to gas pipelines and undersea cables submerged in the Baltic Sea that are suspected to have been caused by malicious actors, including the 2022 explosive destruction of the Baltic’s Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany, which is still being investigated.

In 2023, Finland and Estonia launched investigations after a subsea gas pipeline and several telecom cables running along the bottom of the Sea were also severely damaged, Reuters reports. The cause of that damage was blamed on the dragging anchor belonging to a Chinese container ship, although it's still unclear if those injuries were intentional.

Sweden's Minister of Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin, appearing on SVT on Monday, said it was “absolutely central that it is clarified why we currently have two cables in the Baltic Sea that are not working."

“Beneath the waves lurks a silent threat: Russian spy ship Yantar. Its deep-sea subs target undersea cables – the backbone of the internet – it’s a chilling reminder of the high-stakes shadow games beneath our oceans,” posted former intelligence officer and author Robert Morton on X Sunday, citing a recent blog he wrote about the Russian spy ship, blurring the lines between fact and fiction, as well as "surveillance and sabotage."

Beneath the waves lurks a silent threat: the Russian spy ship Yantar. Its deep-sea subs target undersea cables—the backbone of the internet—it’s a chilling reminder of the high-stakes shadow games beneath our oceans. https://t.co/y5p77O75BH #Espionage #SpyShip #Geopolitics #usa pic.twitter.com/liQpvThd7y

undefined Robert Morton (@Robert4787) November 17, 2024

A November 14th report by Insikt Group says that Russian sabotage attempts have been ramping up in recent months, “targeting critical infrastructure” in a concerted effort to “destabilize NATO allies and disrupt their support for Ukraine.”

Citing recent incidents, such as break-ins at Finnish water treatment facilities and explosions at arms factories in Poland, the Inskit Group said it has seen evidence that “echoes Soviet-era sabotage strategies…a pattern of Russian hybrid warfare involving covert operatives, agent networks, and plausible deniability tactics.”

"Our European security is threatened not only by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but also by hybrid warfare by malicious actors," a joint statement by Germany and Finland said on Monday.

"Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies," the counties said.