Earlier this week, two underwater telecommunications cables were severed one after the other in the heart of the Baltic Sea. International media is questioning whether these strategic infrastructures were intentionally harmed.
“Accident or sabotage?” Following the discovery of damage to the two submarine telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, this question is central to many diplomatic discussions. According to CNN, “U.S. and European officials do not agree” on the answer.
“On Sunday and Monday, we witnessed the abrupt breakage of two cables: the BCS East-West, which connects Lithuania to Sweden, and the C-Lion1, which links Finland to Germany,” the American network recalls. This has raised alarms at the foreign ministries of Germany and Finland, both of which hinted that they suspect Russia to be behind the damage, asserting that it is part of the “hybrid war” being waged by Moscow against the West.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed these accusations as “ridiculous,” stating that “it is completely absurd to continue blaming Russia for all evils without any reason.” According to the European edition of the American newspaper Politico, Peskov “contrarily shifted the blame onto Ukraine, recalling—ostensibly to divert attention—that Kyiv was behind the explosions of the Nord Stream gas pipeline [linking Russia to Germany] in 2022, for which Berlin issued an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian suspect.” This comes while investigations by German authorities into that incident are still ongoing.
A Chinese Cargo Ship at the Scene
Across the Atlantic, statements differ from those of Russia, as well as Germany and Finland. “Two senior U.S. officials, well aware of the initial elements of the investigation, told CNN on Tuesday that it does not seem the damage [to the BCS East-West and C-Lion1] was deliberately caused by Russia or another country,” CNN reported. According to these anonymous sources, Washington is leaning toward the theory of an accident, potentially caused by an anchor dragged by a ship.
On November 19, Swedish media SVT noted through satellite images that a Chinese vessel, the Yi Peng 3, was near the damaged cables at the time they were severed and was subsequently tracked by the Danish Navy. The next day, the British Financial Times confirmed, citing anonymous Swedish sources, that “Sweden has opened an investigation into the two incidents and is currently examining the role that Yi Peng 3 may have played in this matter.”
According to CNN, the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry stated that he was “unaware” of the involvement of a Chinese vessel in the deterioration of strategic material in the Baltic Sea, affirming that China places great importance on “the protection of underwater infrastructures” globally. However, according to Reuters, the Danish military confirmed that it is keeping an eye on the Chinese cargo ship, without specifying the reasons.
“Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the explosions that affected the Nord Stream pipelines seven months later, the [European] population, and especially NATO, has been closely monitoring essential infrastructures in the Baltic Sea,” the German media outlet NDR noted. A little over a year ago, the Balticconnector pipeline was also damaged between Estonia and Finland, likely by the anchor of a Chinese vessel named Newnew Polar Bear. “It remains unclear whether this was an accident or deliberate sabotage.”
