Chinese ship may have damaged Baltic cables on Russian instructions
16.12.2024 - 12:52
Russian intelligence services are likely behind the damage to underwater communication cables in the Baltic Sea.
The Chinese ship Yi Peng 3, which is suspected of damaging telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea, received instructions from Russian intelligence. This is reported by Yle.
According to the investigation, the ship’s captain received orders to damage the cables with an anchor. The Russian military corvette “Mercury”, belonging to the Black Sea Fleet, participated in this process. The corvette conducted electronic reconnaissance near Yi Peng 3 and transmitted secret information to the headquarters in Kaliningrad.
The situation in the Baltic Sea poses serious challenges for NATO. It is difficult for the alliance to respond quickly to such events, and public accusations against Russia are being avoided in order to “prevent panic among the population.”
The Yi Peng 3, currently anchored in the Kattegat Strait near Denmark, changed its routes in the spring of 2024. It began to regularly call at Russian ports, including Murmansk and Ust-Luga. Up until this point, the ship had not visited Russia since 2015.
It is currently unclear what exactly caused the change in routes and whether it is related to possible cooperation with the Russian side. The investigation is ongoing, but the fact of such actions creates additional risks for security in the Baltic region.
As USM recently wrote, Germany is confident that the cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged by Russia.
