Two fiber-optic submarine Internet cables connecting Scandinavia to mainland Europe were cut within 24 hours. European authorities suspect the disconnections are a sign of sabotage.

The cables connecting Finland to Germany and Lithuania to Sweden ran under the Baltic Sea; according to CNN, undersea cables can be damaged, but it is rare.

EU officials do not believe this was accidental.

“No one believes these cables were cut by accident,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. 'We still don't know by whom, but we have to assume that this is a hybrid act, an act of sabotage.' [The foreign ministers of Finland and Germany issued a joint statement saying, “The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks to the instability of our times.” They added that “our European security is threatened not only by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but also by hybrid wars by malicious actors.”

The immediate leap to accusations of sabotage was likely fueled by an August report (Business Insider) in which Russian officials warned that disrupting undersea cables and the global Internet had become “a legitimate Russian target.” At the time, analysts speculated that Russia was mapping undersea cable networks; a 2023 investigation found that Russia was operating a fleet of purported intelligence vessels in Nordic waters, suspected of targeting wind farms and undersea cables.

Shortly before the cables were cut, the U.S. government gave Ukraine permission to use U.S. long-range weapons to attack the Kursk region in its ongoing war with Russia; according to the Associated Press, Moscow said the decision would “add fuel to the fire” in the war, now entering its third year and warned that it would “add fuel to the fire” of the war, which is entering its third year.

One Russian official called any accusations “absurd” and seemed to hint that Ukraine may have sabotaged the cables

Today, a Chinese-flag cargo ship, named the “Yipeng 3,” was in the vicinity of both cables around the time they were damaged, It is of interest.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said, “If there were a nickel for every time a Chinese ship dragged its anchor on the bottom of the Baltic Sea near a critical cable, there would be two cents.

The Ipen 3 left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15; the suspected cable cut occurred on November 17; it is scheduled to arrive in Port Said, Egypt, on December 3; it is expected to arrive at the port of Ust-Luga on December 4.

As of this writing, the vessel is anchored in Danish waters and the Danish military has confirmed that it maintains a “presence near the vessel.” No other details have been released.

In 2023, a fiber optic cable between Finland and Estonia was cut. The accident was reportedly caused by a Chinese ship's anchor, which also damaged a Russian cable connecting Finland to the Kaliningrad enclave, located between Lithuania and Poland in the Baltic Sea.

At the time, Finnish ministers claimed that the damage was intentional. Finnish Minister for European Affairs Anders Adlekreutz said, “You would have noticed the anchor dragging hundreds of kilometers behind.”

Why China would target the Nordic countries and the lines of communication there is a matter of conjecture.

So far, the damaged cables do not appear to have completely altered Internet access in Finland or Sweden. Telia Lithuania, which operates the cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden, said that the damaged cable provided nearly one-third of the country's Internet capacity. That traffic has reportedly been restored. Cinia, which manages the connection between Finland and Germany, confirmed a similar situation.

Still, NATO allies are working to secure their undersea cables by, for example, ceasing partnerships with companies with ties to Russia and China.

Whether these cuts are accidental or testing the waters remains to be seen, but it is undeniable that in any war, hybrid or not, severing lines of communication is a key element in giving an adversary an edge.