Swedish police are investigating the possible sabotage of an undersea communication cable in the Baltic Sea that connects Germany and Finland.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a number of undersea cables and gas pipelines have been destroyed in suspected strikes, prompting NATO to create a maritime monitoring mission this month.
The Swedish coastguard says a research vessel to the east of Gotland, the country’s largest island and the reported site of the most recent 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”.
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.
“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.
