No trace of “deliberate Russian state activity” has been found in repeated incidents involving undersea power and communications lines, Finland’s spy chief says
Russia was not behind a series of ruptures in underwater cables in the Baltic Sea, Finland’s spy chief has admitted, adding that the assessment is “very broadly” shared within the European intelligence community.
Seabed infrastructure in the waterway has been repeatedly damaged in a series of incidents over the past two years. Several merchant vessels have been found dragging their anchors across the seabed, damaging power and communication cables in the process.
While some NATO and EU officials have accused Russia of sabotage and “hybrid warfare,” no evidence to back up the allegations has ever emerged. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed such claims as “absurd” and baseless.
Speaking to the outlet Suomen Kuvalehti in an interview published on Wednesday, Juha Martelius, the head of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo), admitted that no proof of Moscow’s involvement had been found.
“Our understanding has been that there has been no deliberate Russian state activity in the background. It is a very broadly shared view in the other European intelligence community,” he said. The undersea infrastructure has been repeatedly damaged in accidents since as early as the 2000s, yet such occurrences previously did not receive extensive media coverage, he added.
Russia’s own underwater infrastructure was damaged in some of the incidents, Martelius pointed out. Moscow actually seeks to ensure that its own maritime traffic flows through the Baltic Sea undisturbed rather than to cause disruptions in the area, he argued.
“There are many factors here that support the fact that there is no motive in Russia,” he added.
Still, Martelius pointed the finger at the so-called “shadow fleet” allegedly operated by Russia to circumvent Western-imposed sanctions. Such vessels are often poorly maintained, and their crews are under-trained, the spy chief asserted, which has resulted in repeated instances of anchor-dragging causing damage to undersea cables.
Moscow has maintained that the notion of the fleet’s very existence is unfounded, and the term itself is a propaganda trope used to describe vessels that transport cargo outside the coverage of London-based insurance brokers.