A Cut Internet Cable On Russia's Doorstep Raises The Prospect Of More Sabotage

A fibre optic cable connecting Finland and Sweden has been cut in two separate places.

ANTTI HAMALAINEN/Lehtikuva/AFP via Getty Images

• Damage to two internet cables caused outages in Finland, GlobalConnect said.
• The overland cables both linked Finland and Sweden, reports said.
• They are the latest cuts to cables in the Baltic region that power the internet.

The severance of two overland fibreoptic cables that carry internet data between Sweden and Finland has raised fears of sabotage.

The damage caused widespread outages in Finland, affecting thousands of households.

Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications, Lulu Ranne, said Tuesday that authorities were investigating the incidents alongside telecomms company GlobalConnect.

"We take the situation seriously," said Ranne.

Niklas Ekström, a spokesman for GlobalConnect, said diggers cutting cables by accident may be to blame.

However, after the recent severance of subsea cables in the Baltic, Sweden said it suspected foul play.

In a statement cited by Reuters, Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said: "Due to the circumstances surrounding what happened, sabotage is suspected."

One of the breaches to cables connecting Finland and Sweden was found in Espoo just west of the capital, Helsinki, while another was found in Vista, northwest of the city, reports said. 

GlobalConnect said one of the breaches was likely caused by excavation, and it's investigating the second, reported Reuters. It said one of the severances had been repaired.

It comes after two subsea cables, one carrying data between Germany and Finland and another between Sweden and Lithuania, were severed in late November. 

At the time, Finnish and German officials said at the time that they suspected the damage was caused by sabotage.

Geopolitical tensions, a lack of clear ownership, and outdated efforts to protect the infrastructure have all led to fears that they could be intentionally damaged by the likes of Russia or China, creating social and economic chaos.

Experts say that as the West has come to rely on the cables as a crucial part of its infrastructure, efforts to safeguard them have not kept pace.

Sweden, which is leading the inquiry into the subsea cable incidents, is investigating a Chinese ship that was near the cables when they were severed.