Suspicion of Russian Sabotage in Undersea Cables Debunked

The snagging undersea cable ruptures that have rattled European security officials in recent months were the result of maritime accidents rather than Russian sabotage, according to several U.S. and European intelligence officials.

The decision reflects an emerging consensus among U.S. and European security services, according to senior officials from three countries involved in ongoing investigations into a series of incidents in which critical seabed energy and communications lines were cut.

The cases have raised suspicions that Russia is targeting undersea infrastructure as part of a wider campaign of combined attacks across Europe and led to heightened security measures, including NATO's announcement last week that it would launch new patrols and surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea.

But officials said investigations so far involving the United States and a half-dozen European security services had turned up no indication that commercial vessels suspected of dragging anchors along seabed systems were doing so deliberately or at Moscow's direction.

The investigation focuses on three incidents in the past 18 months. In December, Finland seized an oil tanker suspected of severing a power cable between Finland and Estonia. The ship was alleged to be part of Russia’s stay-behind fleet, which was carrying oil from Russia in violation of an international embargo.

In October 2023, a Hong Kong-registered ship was alleged to have severed a gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland, and in November last year, a Chinese ship was alleged to have severed two internet cables in Swedish territorial waters.