Sweden investigates suspected sabotage of undersea telecoms cable

Swedish police have been investigating the suspected sabotage of an undersea telecoms cable in the Baltic Sea, connecting Germany and Finland.

A series of undersea cables and gas pipelines have been damaged in suspected attacks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting Nato to launch a monitoring mission in the sea last month.

The Swedish coastguard has dispatched a research vessel to the east of Gotland, which is the country’s largest island and the reported location of the latest breach.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said the government is aware of the cable break and added it “must be seen in the context of the current serious security situation”.

The owner of the cable, Finnish telecom operators Cinia, said it detected minor damage to its fibre-optic cable but added it was still functioning as usual.

Cinia also said it is the third time this cable has been damaged in recent months.

The cable was severed in November last year.

There has been an increase in damage to undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea over the past few months, largely caused by civilian ships dragging their anchors across cables.

Swedish police have said “the preliminary investigation relates to suspected sabotage”. The Swedish coastguard has said they do not know when the damage occurred.

“We have a ship called KBV 003 on its way to east of Gotland. It is in the Swedish economic zone and we are assisting with the crime scene investigation,” the coastguard added.

European leaders have suspected Russian involvement in breaches.

However, poor weather, inadequate equipment and human error has been found to be responsible for some damages.

Bulgarian ship the Vezhen was cleared of sabotage by the Swedish authorities earlier this month.