American and European intelligence agencies believe that the ruptures of submarine cables in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland were caused by maritime accidents, not by Russian sabotage.
This is reported by The Washington Post, citing sources.
The cable cuts have raised suspicions that Russia has targeted Europeʼs underwater infrastructure in its campaign of hybrid attacks across the continent, prompting European intelligence agencies to step up security measures and NATO to send additional ships to the Baltic Sea.
However, intelligence agencies from the United States and six European Union countries have found no evidence of Russian involvement in the incidents, and have agreed that the cause was accidents caused by inexperienced crews operating on poorly maintained vessels.
The investigation focused on three incidents over the past 18 months. In all cases, ships heading to or from Russian ports were suspected of severing vital undersea cables that carry gas, electricity and internet traffic to millions of people across northern Europe.
In the latest case, in late December 2024, Finland detained an oil tanker suspected of dragging its anchor along the seabed through an undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia. Finnish authorities said the “Eagle S” was part of Russiaʼs shadow fleet, helping the latter circumvent sanctions and sell oil on world markets.
Previous cases included the Hong Kong-registered container ship “NewnewPolar Bear”, which ruptured a natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland in October 2023, and the Chinese vessel “Yi Peng 3”, which cut two data cables in Swedish waters in November 2023.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.