Cables damaged in the Baltic Sea: the Kremlin considers it “laughable” to accuse Russia

The Kremlin on Wednesday deemed it “laughable” and “absurd” to accuse Russia, after two telecommunications cables were damaged in the Baltic Sea in recent days, reviving suspicions of sabotage in Europe, particularly against Moscow. .

“This is laughable given the lack of reaction to Ukraine’s sabotage activities in the Baltic Sea,” scoffed Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, referring to the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 for which Moscow accused kyiv.

Ukraine has always denied its participation, but German justice has issued a European arrest warrant against a Ukrainian diving instructor, suspected of being involved in the sabotage. The involvement of the Ukrainian state has not been confirmed at this stage by the multiple ongoing investigations.

Regarding the two telecommunications cables damaged in 48 hours in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Germany on the one hand, and Sweden and Lithuania on the other, Dmitri Peskov said on Wednesday that “it is quite absurd to continue to accuse Russia of everything, without any basis.”

The “C-Lion1”, a 1,172-kilometer submarine cable linking Helsinki to Rostock, a Baltic Sea port in northeast Germany, was broken on Monday, according to its operator, the Finnish technology group Cinia.

On Sunday morning, another telecommunications cable, the “Arelion”, linking the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania, was also damaged.

The eyes of Europeans have quickly turned towards Russia, which is waging, they say, “a hybrid war”, in the context of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, supported financially and militarily by the EU.

Faced with these new spectacular incidents in the Baltic Sea, where tensions have been increasing since 2022, Sweden announced on Tuesday the opening of an investigation for “sabotage”, with the support of Germany. The Finnish police have also opened an investigation of their own.

“Situations of this type must be assessed taking into account the growing threat posed by Russia in our neighborhood,” declared the Swedish and Lithuanian defense ministers.

According to Finnish and Swedish media, a Chinese ship, the Yi Peng 3, which left the Baltic Sea early Tuesday morning, followed by the Danish navy, after passing through a Russian port, could also have played a role in the two incidents.