Baltic sabotage: Estonia starts patrolling submarine cable, NATO strengthens military presence

The Estonian Defence Forces launched a naval operation this morning to protect the submarine power cable Estlink-1. This was announced by the authorities in Tallinn. According to the announcement, an Estonian naval patrol vessel will remain in constant defence of the cable. 'The decision was made last night with the commander of our country's armed forces,' Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said this morning. 'The patrolling will serve to ensure that nothing similar to what happened on Christmas Day will happen and that our connection with Finland remains operational.

'Nato will strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea'. This was announced by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte after a phone call with Finnish President Alexander Stubb. "I spoke with Stubb about the ongoing Finnish investigation into the possible sabotage of submarine cables. I expressed my full solidarity and support,' Rutte reported on X.

According to a check at the Marinetraffic service, the Estonian Navy's patrol ship Raju left Tallinn today and is moving in the middle of the Gulf of Finland. "The task of the Defence Forces is to repel military attacks against the Republic of Estonia," said General Andrus Merilo, the current commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, again according to Postimees. "The Defence Forces are ready to prevent attacks on our energy infrastructure at sea, by non-military means, and to organise military cooperation to ensure maritime security. The Navy is ready for such tasks. We are also in contact with our Finnish counterparts, as well as with the supreme commander of NATO's European forces, to discuss allied involvement in protecting our critical infrastructure. Our message is clear: we protect ourselves and our alliances'.

The president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, appealed on X to 'eliminate' the risk posed by the 'ghost fleet' of Russian ships, reacting to the new case of a broken submarine cable. The appeal comes after the rupture of an electricity cable between Finland and Estonia across the Baltic Sea, for which sabotage cannot be ruled out.

The electricity supplied by Estlink-2 went out shortly after midday on Wednesday. "Despite the holidays, many people in Estonia and Finland have been working over the past two days to identify the problem," Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on X. "My government will hold an extraordinary meeting this afternoon. We are in close contact with our Nordic-Baltic colleagues."

Two data cables, one running between Finland and Germany and the other between Lithuania and Sweden, were severed in November. The German defence minister said officials had to assume that the incident was "sabotage", but without providing evidence or saying who might have been responsible. The remark was made during a speech in which he spoke about hybrid war threats from Russia.

The Nord Stream pipelines that once transported natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. The authorities called the incident sabotage and launched criminal investigations. The Estlink-2 cable was left unused for most of this year to repair damage caused by a short circuit that may have been caused by the cable's complex positioning.