Between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a low-key war has been raging since the start of the war in Ukraine, but it's at sea that it's taking on new intensity. At the heart of the battle are the telecommunications and electricity cables that run along the seabed. In recent months, several of these critical infrastructures have been damaged in the Baltic Sea, most often by the anchors of civilian ships that have passed a little too close. Suspicion quickly focused on Russia, the home port or port of call of several of the vessels involved. Although sabotage acts are difficult to establish, the Alliance no longer believes in chance and announced on Friday, December 27, that it was reinforcing its military presence in the Baltic.

On December 25, a power cable linking Finland and Estonia – the Estlink 2 – was damaged, barely a month and a half after two telecommunications cables in Swedish territorial waters broke. Finnish police said they suspected the oil tanker Eagle S was involved in the failure. Boarded on December 26, this vessel, suspected of being part of a shadow fleet carrying Russian oil under embargo, left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on December 24. The Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3, which has been in the sights of the Swedish authorities since November, also made a stop at the port.

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