Russia likely develops 'anchor attack' tactic amid Baltic Sea cable damage — Ukrainian Navy

Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said this on The United News telethon.

According to him, Russia is afraid to act openly in the Baltic Sea because it lacks any advantages there, and the sea itself has “become NATO’s internal sea.”

“Moreover, they could find themselves in a real blockade there. However, regarding these cases and hybrid methods of influencing neighbors, I was inclined to believe it was accidental. From a practical standpoint, carrying out such actions deliberately is quite difficult. But the growing number of incidents suggests that this is likely some kind of tactic. It seems they have mastered a new form of attack called the 'anchor attack,' which aligns with what we are witnessing,” Pletenchuk said.

He also believes the frequency of such incidents, which had never occurred in such numbers before, may indicate a pattern, though proving this is quite challenging.

“This is another version of ‘they are not there,’ but now in a maritime context,” the spokesperson summarized.

Background

On December 3, 2024, an internet cable between Finland and Sweden was severed. The cable was damaged, but the cause of the accident was unknown.

Later, Finland’s national electricity grid operator, Fingrid, reported damage to the Estlink 2 submarine power cable connecting Finland and Estonia.

On December 26, Finnish authorities detained the ship Eagle S, which was transporting Russian oil in the Baltic Sea. The vessel is suspected of damaging the undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia, as well as four internet lines.

A few days later, Finnish police announced they had found traces stretching for dozens of kilometers along the Baltic Sea floor, where the tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of damaging the power line and four telecommunications cables with its anchor.

As of January 6, two submarine communication cables belonging to the Elisa company between Finland and Estonia, damaged on December 25, 2024, had been repaired. A day later, the Swedish Navy reported successfully recovering the anchor of the Eagle S tanker.

Previously, on November 18, it was also reported that the C-Lion1 submarine cable, stretching 1,173 km between Finland and Germany, had been severed in the Baltic Sea.

• The North Atlantic Alliance will increase its presence in the Baltic Sea after incidents involving damage to submarine cables