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Key internet cable between NATO states damaged Key internet cable connecting NATO states cut
(about 7 hours later)
A Swedish minister was quick to cry sabotage but at least one of the ruptures has been proven to have been accidentally causedA Swedish minister was quick to cry sabotage but at least one of the ruptures has been proven to have been accidentally caused
A Swedish minister has suggested that his country’s telecommunications infrastructure may have been sabotaged after reports emerged of a fiber-optic cable being breached in two separate areas of southern Finland. However, Finnish telecom company Elisa later said at least one of the ruptures had been caused by an excavator. A fiber-optic cable linking Sweden and Finland has reportedly been damaged in two separate locations. Finnish police said on Tuesday that “there is no reason to suspect any criminal activity” in connection with the incident.
Over the past year, several similar incidents have happened in the area, with officials in Nordic and Baltic states usually pointing the finger at Russia. However, no evidence has been presented to support such an accusation, with some of the ruptures later proving unintentional. Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin had suggested earlier in the day that the incident could be a deliberate act, citing the circumstances surrounding the damage.
The two separate breaks, both on Finnish soil, were reported by the media on Tuesday. According to the cable operator, one of the cuts on the line connecting the two Nordic nations was repaired overnight, with work on the other still underway. Line operator Global Connect has estimated that approximately 6,000 households and 100 businesses in Finland lost internet connectivity at one point on Monday.  However, Finnish telecom company Elisa later confirmed that at least one of the breaches was caused by construction work.
Swedish media outlets, including public broadcaster SVT and Aftonbladet newspaper, originally claimed that Finnish police had suspected criminality in the incident. However, law enforcement officials clarified later on Tuesday that “contrary to media reports, the Finnish police have no ongoing criminal investigation into the damage to the fiber optic cable between Finland and Sweden.” Reports emerged on Tuesday of the two cuts, both of which occurred on Finnish soil. The severing of the cable, which connects the Nordic countries, disrupted internet services for thousands of households and businesses in southern Finland.
However, speaking to Aftonbladet, Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin maintained that “due to the circumstances surrounding what happened, sabotage is suspected.” Global Connect, the line operator, reported that approximately 6,000 households and 100 businesses were affected by the disruption. One of the breaches was repaired overnight, while work on the second was still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Jaakko Wallenius, director of safety at Elisa, told Helsingin Sanomat that it had been established that one of the ruptures was accidentally caused by an excavator, with the person responsible reporting the incident. Yle media outlet quoted the company representative as calling the situation a “very ordinary accident” given that a “lot of fiber construction is being done.” Swedish media, including SVT and Aftonbladet, initially claimed that Finnish police were investigating the damage as a potential criminal act. However, Finnish authorities later clarified that there was no ongoing investigation into the incident.
Niklas Ekstrom, Global Connect’s communications manager, also confirmed that one of the breaches was attributable to construction work, with the cause of the other fault currently being looked into, as reported by the Associated Press. “Contrary to media reports, the Finnish police have no ongoing criminal investigation into the damage to the fiber optic cable between Finland and Sweden,” a spokesperson stated.
Last month, two fiber-optic undersea cables - the BCS East-West-Interlink, which connects Lithuania to Sweden, and the C-Lion, linking Finland and Germany, - were damaged in rapid succession in the Baltic Sea. Despite this, Bohlin maintained that sabotage could be involved, saying, “due to the circumstances surrounding what happened, sabotage is suspected.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was quick to suggest that the ruptures were an act of “sabotage.” Jaakko Wallenius, safety director at Elisa, confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat that one of the ruptures had been caused by an excavator during construction work. The incident, he said, was reported promptly and was considered a “very ordinary accident.”
The Financial Times, citing an anonymous source, later alleged that a Chinese-registered merchant vessel en route from Russia to Egypt had come under suspicion. Niklas Ekstrom, communications manager at Global Connect, also attributed one of the breaks to construction activities, while the cause of the second breach remains under investigation.
This incident is part of a series of similar disruptions over the past year, with some incidents in the region raising suspicions of sabotage. In October, two undersea cables linking Finland, Germany, and Lithuania were damaged in the Baltic Sea, prompting German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to suggest the possibility of deliberate sabotage.