Hybrid warfare?

Baltic Sea fiber optic cable probably deliberately damaged

The cable-laying ship NKT Victoria in the Kiel Canal

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/dieter76)

The Baltic Sea fiber optic cable between Finland and Germany has probably been deliberately damaged. This was announced by the foreign ministries of both countries in a joint statement on Monday evening. An investigation has been launched.

"Europe's security is not only threatened by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, but also by hybrid warfare. Protecting our common critical infrastructure is crucial to our security and the resilience of our societies," the statement from Monday evening reads. Both governments expressed concern about the damage.

Data traffic disrupted
The affected fiber optic cable, which may have been severed, runs between Helsinki and Rostock. It connects the data centers of continental Europe with those in Scandinavia. The fault disrupted data traffic on Monday and the outage occurred suddenly last night.

An investigation has been launched. The network and cyber security company Cinia is working together with the Finnish authorities. It usually takes between five and 15 days to repair an undersea cable.

Not an isolated case
On Monday evening, the media also reported on a damaged cable between Sweden and Lithuania. This is the Arelion communication cable between the Swedish island of Gotland and Lithuania. However, Telia customers did not experience any major disruption as a result. This incident is also to be investigated.