Ed. Note: Is this the first escalatory
move towards naval blockade of Russia? Under the pretext of protecting the
undersea cables are we now witnessing the militarization of the Baltic Sea? via ZeroHedge NATO is strengthening its military presence in the Baltic Sea
in response to the Christmas Day severing of the Estlink 2 electricity cable
and four telecom cables linking Finland and Estonia. A month prior to that incident, in November, two other
submarine telecommunication cables, the BCS East-West Interlink and C-Lion1
fiber-optic cables, were damaged. Soon after the alleged sabotage the West charged that a
Russian 'shadow ship' intentionally dragged its anchor on the sea bed in
order to damage the vital telecoms links. The vessel in Finnish custody is
the Cook Islands-flagged Eagle S. European media reported that as of days ago the initial cables
which were damaged connecting Estonia and Finland have been repaired.
However, another damaged cable, reportedly sabotaged later in December could
yet to months more to be up and running. "Estlink 2, the power cable damaged on December 25, has
not yet been repaired, with work expected to take several months, according
to Finnish operator Fingrid and Elering of Estonia," DW reports. On Friday Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen announced
that the NATO military alliance is sending "two vessels and we are also
increasing other activities and presence in the area." At the start of this week the the British-led Joint
Expeditionary Force had announced it would be ramping up its surveillance of
undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. "Finland has long been concerned about the risks to
environmental and maritime safety posed by the shadow fleet used by
Russia," Valtonen said Friday. "It is clear that the shadow fleet
is also a threat to critical underwater infrastructure." European authorities are still investigating the matter and
questioning the crew. There have been reports that the anchor has been
recovered from the bottom of the ocean floor. The West has loudly condemned what it's calling Russia's
'hybrid warfare' targeting key infrastructure in European telecoms. However,
officials also still speak in terms of 'assumptions'... Germany’s defense minister was quick to announce that “no one
believes that these cables were cut accidentally,” hammering the point home
by adding that “we have to assume … it is sabotage.” The Kremlin has of course denied all of these allegations and
has condemned what it calls a Russophobic witch hunt which blames any and all
Western infrastructure failure on Moscow. The seas of northern Europe have been closely watched ever
since the biggest single sabotage event of the Ukraine war - the Nord Stream
pipeline explosions. In the case of Nord Stream, the latest consensus is that
it was not Russia... but either the CIA or Ukraine. |
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