Russia denies cutting Baltic Sea cables as tensions rise

Russia on Wednesday refuted suggestions it was responsible for damage caused over the weekend to two fiber-optic data telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea.

European governments accused Moscow on Tuesday of escalating hybrid attacks on Ukraine's Western allies, days after one cable running between Finland and Germany, and another going between Sweden and Lithuania, were severed.

European officials stopped short of accusing Russia of destroying the cables but Germany, Poland and others suggested it was an act of sabotage.

Kremlin: Absurd to blame Russia for everything

"It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a regular news briefing.

"It is probably laughable against the background of the lack of any reaction to Ukraine's sabotage activities in the Baltic Sea," he said, referring to Nord Stream gas pipeline blasts that occurred in September 2022. Russia has put the responsibility for those explosions on Ukraine and its Western allies.

In the latest incident, one cable went out of service on Sunday morning, the other less than 24 hours later.

Denmark observing Chinese vessel in Baltic

Meanwhile, Beijing on Wednesday said it was not aware of the possible involvement of a Chinese ship in the damage reported on the Baltic Sea cables.

When asked about a Financial Times report that the Chinese-flagged freighter Yi Peng 3 was sailing near the cables around the time of the incident, the Chinese Foreign Office stated it was not aware of the situation.

Denmark's navy said on Wednesday it was shadowing Yi Peng 3.

"The Danish Defense can confirm that we are present in the area near the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3," the military told the AFP news agency.

The Chinese cargo ship, built in 2001 and owned by Ningbo Yipeng Shipping Co, stopped overnight Tuesday to Wednesday in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and southwestern Sweden, according to the ship tracking site Marinetraffic.

The Minetraffic website showed Yi Peng 3 had on Monday been in the area of the "C-Lion 1" cable linking Finland to Germany when it was impaired, though there is nothing to indicate the ship was involved.

Early on Sunday, another telecoms cable, the "Arelion", going from the Swedish Baltic Sea island of Gotland to Lithuania, was also damaged.

On Tuesday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the damaged cables were probably an act of "sabotage."

"Nobody believes that these cables were accidentally severed," Pistorius said.

Germany offers to support Swedish and Finnish investigation

German police have meanwhile offered support to Swedish and Finnish authorities probing the cutting of the cables, a German Interior Ministry spokesperson said  Wednesday.

"An intensive investigation is underway to determine whether the suspicion can be confirmed that there was sabotage on this important data connection. Our federal police are in contact with the Swedish and Finnish authorities," said the spokesperson.

jsi/kb (AFP, dpa, Reuters)