'No One Believes' Baltic Cables 'Were Severed by Mistake'

Sabotage is on the minds of officials in Germany and Finland after an underwater fiber-optic cable in the Baltic Sea connecting the two nations was severed—a day after another cable between Lithuania and a Swedish island also was cut. The Finnish telecoms firm Cinia says a 745-mile cable linking the capital of Helsinki to Germany's Rostock ceased working around 2am GMT on Monday, per Reuters. Meanwhile, Lithuania's Telia Lietuva telecoms group reports that the previous morning, a 135-mile conduit between Lithuania and Gotland Island in Sweden also went out of service.

"It is absolutely central that it is clarified why we currently have two cables in the Baltic Sea that are not working," Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Sweden's minister of civil defense, told Swedish broadcaster SVT. In Germany and Finland's eyes, foul play has risen to the top of their theories list. "No one believes these cables were severed by mistake," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Tuesday, reports the AP. He added, per Politico: "We have to conclude, without knowing exactly who did it, that it is a hybrid action, and we also have to assume ... that it is sabotage." The severed cables recall the 2022 explosions in a pair of Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea carrying gas from Russia to Germany.

Finger-pointing is still going on regarding that apparent attack. In a joint statement, Germany and Finland noted they were "deeply concerned" about the latest development. CNN reports that the severed cables come not long after the United States sent up a red flag that Russia may target key underwater infrastructure in Europe. Germany and Finland's joint statement added, "Our European security is not only under threat from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors." Repair of the Germany-to-Finland cable could take more than two weeks, per Cinia's CEO, Ari-Jussi Knaapila. An investigation continues into what happened. It's not clear how long it will take to repair the second cable. (More Baltic Sea stories.)