Rostelecom has named “external influence” as the cause of the incident
Russia’s leading telecommunications provider, Rostelecom, has confirmed that one of its underwater cables in the Baltic Sea has been damaged due to external impact.
“Rostelecom’s underwater cable was damaged in the Baltic Sea as a result of external influence,” the company said in a statement released for the media on Saturday. It added that services remain operational and that repairs are underway. Authorities have yet to determine the precise cause of the damage.
Earlier the same day, the Finnish Coast Guard said it was overseeing the repair operation in Finland’s exclusive economic zone, where a Russian vessel is conducting the work.
“The Gulf of Finland Coast Guard monitors compliance with the Economic Zone Act and the conditions for the use of the economic zone, where repair work on the damaged Russian cable is underway by a Russian vessel,” the agency wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Cable damage in the Baltic Sea has become more frequent, with Sweden, Norway, and Finland reporting similar incidents in recent months. Concerns have grown over the security of subsea energy and data infrastructure, though officials have not found definitive evidence of sabotage.
NATO recently expanded surveillance operations following suspected sabotage, with speculation circulating that Russia could have played a role in the incidents.
Earlier this month, Norwegian authorities cleared a Russian-crewed vessel after finding no evidence linking it to recent damage to an undersea fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and Sweden.
The Norwegian-owned vessel, which operates between St. Petersburg and Murmansk, was detained in January following a request from Latvian authorities.
The Kremlin has denied allegations of involvement in undersea cable damage, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissing the accusations as baseless. “It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason,” he said.
