Finland’s spy chief says no trace of “deliberate Russian state activity” found in repeated incidents involving undersea power and communications lines
Finland’s spy chief admits Russia was not behind a series of underwater cable ruptures in the Baltic Sea, assessment “very wide” Shared in the European Intelligence Community.
The seabed infrastructure in the waterway has been repeatedly damaged in a series of incidents over the past two years. Several merchant ships have been seen dragging their anchors across the seabed, damaging power and communication cables in the process.
Some NATO and EU officials have accused Russia of subversion and “Hybrid Warfare” No evidence has yet emerged to substantiate the allegations. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed such claims “nonsense” And baseless.
Speaking to outlet Suomen Kuvalehti in an interview published on Wednesday, Juha Martelius, head of the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo), admitted that no evidence of Moscow involvement had been found.
“Our understanding is that there was no intentional Russian state activity in the background. This is a view shared very broadly in the rest of the European intelligence community.” He said. Subsea infrastructure has been repeatedly damaged in accidents since the early 2000s, but such incidents had not previously received widespread media coverage, he said.
Martelius pointed out that Russia’s own underwater infrastructure has been damaged in some incidents. He argued that Moscow would actually try to ensure that its own maritime traffic flows unhindered through the Baltic Sea, rather than creating bottlenecks in the region.
“There are many factors that support the fact that Russia has no intention” He added.
Still, Martelius pointed the finger at the so-called “Shadow Navy” It is said to be working by Russia to circumvent Western-imposed sanctions. Such vessels are often poorly maintained, and their crews are poorly trained, the intelligence chief claimed, leading to repeated instances of anchor-drag causing damage to undersea cables.
Moscow maintains that the notion of the fleet’s existence is baseless, and that the term is a propaganda trope to describe ships carrying cargo outside the reach of London-based insurance brokers.
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