The 4 nations affected by the cuts – Finland, Germany, Lithuania and Sweden – have all launched investigations, with Berlin and Swedish police saying they suspected “sabotage”.
Finnish telecoms operator Cinia reported Monday that the “C-Lion1 submarine cable” connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock had been lower south of Oland island in Swedish waters, some 700km from Helsinki.
“These sorts of breaks do not occur in these waters with out an outdoor impression,” a Cinia spokesperson mentioned.
The overseas ministers of Germany, Annalena Baerbock, and Finland, Elina Valtonen, mentioned it hinted at foul play.
“The truth that such an incident instantly raises suspicions of intentional injury speaks volumes in regards to the volatility of our occasions,” they mentioned in a joint assertion late Monday.
“Our European safety is just not solely beneath menace from Russia’s conflict of aggression towards Ukraine but additionally from hybrid warfare by malicious actors.”
The “Arelion” submarine cable between the Swedish island of Gotland and Lithuania has additionally been broken since Sunday, a spokesman for the Lithuanian department of the operator Telia, Audrius Stasiulaitis, mentioned Tuesday.
“We will affirm that the interruption to web site visitors was not attributable to an tools fault however by materials injury to the fibre optic cable,” he mentioned.
