NATO probe finds no proof Russia destroyed Baltic Sea cables
Citing officials familiar with the investigations, the newspaper stated that "no proof has been found that Moscow ordered or orchestrated the destruction."
Meanwhile, Belgian Navy Commander Erik Kockx, who leads a group participating in a NATO mission in the Baltic Sea, acknowledged the difficulty in assessing the impact of the alliance's increased presence.
"It's quite difficult to prove that our presence helps. It's hard to say that if we hadn't been there, something would have occurred," Kockx said.
Mission Baltic Sentry
On January 14, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced the launch of Mission Baltic Sentry, an initiative aimed at protecting underwater infrastructure, including power and data cables.
The mission involves frigates and maritime patrol aircraft from NATO member states and was initiated in response to damage sustained by a subsea cable connecting Finland and Estonia on December 25, 2024.
The incident has fueled speculation about potential sabotage, but investigators have yet to attribute responsibility for the attack. NATO officials have emphasized the importance of safeguarding critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, given the strategic significance of the region.
Submarine telecom cables destroyed
In late November 2024, two submarine telecommunication cables, the BCS East-West Interlink and C-Lion1 fiber-optic cables, were disrupted in the Baltic Sea.
The BCS East-West Interlink is a 218 km long submarine data communication cable that runs through the Baltic Sea, built in 1997. It connects Sventoji in Lithuania to Katthammarsvik on the east coast of the Swedish island of Gotland. From Gotland, another cable passes data to the Swedish mainland.
The C-Lion1 is a submarine communications cable between Finland and Germany. The cable is owned and operated by Finnish telecommunications and IT services company Cinia Oy. It is the first direct communications cable between Finland and Central Europe and has been in operation since May 2016.
European officials had claimed several of the incidents were sabotage allegedly linked to Russia's war in Ukraine, with the Kremlin dismissing this as "absurd" and "laughable". --- Al Mayadeen
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