**Russia’s Underwater Cable Damaged in Baltic Sea**
On February 8, Russia’s state-controlled telecom giant Rostelecom announced that one of its underwater cables in the Baltic Sea had been damaged. The company said the damage was caused by an “external impact,” but did not give further details.
Rostelecom confirmed that repair work is underway and said that consumers have not been affected. However, this incident comes amid a series of recent disruptions to undersea telecom and power cables in the Baltic Sea.
**Suspicion of Hybrid Warfare**
Western experts and officials have accused Russia of engaging in hybrid warfare against countries supporting Ukraine. This includes damaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea. Last month, Norwegian authorities detained a Russian crewed vessel on suspicion of damaging an undersea fiber-optic cable linking Latvia and Sweden.
In response to these incidents, NATO has increased patrols to safeguard critical underwater infrastructure. A patrol mission called “Baltic Sentry” was launched in January to protect vital infrastructure in the region. The operation involves aircraft, frigates, submarines, and drones monitoring the area for potential threats.
**Previous Incidents**
This is not the first time Rostelecom’s underwater cable has been damaged. In the past, Finnish authorities discovered damage to another Rostelecom cable in the Baltic Sea, which coincided with disruptions to underwater infrastructure in both Sweden and Finland. These incidents have raised suspicions of deliberate sabotage.
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