Western officials earlier blamed Moscow for damage to subsea power and communications lines in the waterway, a notion Russia has repeatedly dismissed
Western investigators have found no evidence linking Russia to a series of ruptures in underwater cables in the Baltic Sea, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing officials familiar with the probes by the countries affected.
A string of incidents over the past year and a half involving damage to power and communications lines initially prompted some NATO and EU officials to accuse Moscow of sabotage and “hybrid warfare.” The incidents involved vessels traveling to and from Russian ports and included damage to a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland in October 2023 and a rupture of the EstLink 2 power cable in December last year. Each case allegedly involved Russia-linked vessels, with investigators saying the cables may have been dragged by the ships’ anchors.
Despite suspicions of Russia’s involvement, no conclusive evidence has surfaced. The WSJ reported on Sunday that officials involved in the probes have found “no proof” that Moscow “ordered or orchestrated” the damage.
Moscow, which considers the Baltic Sea a strategic area for its naval operations and energy exports, has repeatedly dismissed the allegations of sabotage and accused the West of spreading a false narrative that frames routine accidents as evidence of its involvement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier called it “absurd” to keep blaming Russia “without any reason.”
In January, under the pretext of protecting undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, NATO launched a new patrol mission ‘Baltic Sentry’ in the waterway. However, Belgian Navy Commander Erik Kockx, whose task force is part of the mission, told the WSJ his team largely functions “as security cameras,” adding that it remains unclear whether NATO’s presence has had an effect on the waterway’s safety.
“It’s quite difficult to prove that our presence helps,” Kockx said. “It’s hard to say that if we hadn’t been there, something would have occurred.”
The WSJ also noted that the Baltic Sea floor is littered with wrecks and unexploded ordnance from the two world wars, which potentially contribute to incidents such as cable ruptures. Another problem exacerbating the situation is a lack of centralized data on undersea infrastructure because most information is held by national governments or private companies. NATO’s first unified map of the Baltic seabed was only completed last year.
In January, the Washington Post reported that there was a consensus among US and European intelligence officials that Russia was not to blame for the incidents in the Baltic. According to that report, classified intelligence and intercepted communications suggested the cable ruptures were likely “maritime accidents” involving undertrained crews and poorly maintained ships.
