Finnish authorities did not comment on whether Russia’s Baltika subsea cable damage was related to cable incidents impacting Finland.
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The Finnish Coast Guard patrol vessel Turva is supervising repairs to a Russian telecommunication cable in Finland’s EEZ. Image: Merivartiosto / Lehtikuva
According to Kari Klemm, preparedness director at Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, two undersea cables running between St Petersburg and Kaliningrad have sustained damage. The ministry received information on the damage on 27 December.
The current repair efforts are focused on the Baltika cable, which is owned by the Russian state company Rostelecom. Repairs are expected to take about a week, depending on weather conditions, Klemm said.
Klemm did not comment on whether the damage to the Russian cables is related to the Christmas Day cable incidents. On 25 December, the Estlink 2 electricity cable between Finland and Estonia, along with four telecommunications cables, were damaged. Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects the crew of the ship Eagle S in connection with those incidents.
The Baltika cable, approximately 1,000 kilometres long, intersects several key submarine cables, including Finland’s C-Lion1, which was damaged on Christmas Day. About 377 kilometres of the Baltika cable lie within Finland’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Rostelecom, speaking to Russian state media outlet Tass on Saturday evening, stated that the cable damage was caused by “an external impact” and that the incident occurred “some time ago.”
The company assured that its customers have not been affected and that repairs are underway.
Finnish Border Guard ensures compliance
The Russian vessel began repair work on Saturday, with the Finnish patrol vessel Turva monitoring the site.
According to the marine traffic monitoring site Marinetraffic.com, Turva is positioned in the central Gulf of Finland, southeast of Helsinki. A Nato vessel is also present in the area.
Ilja Iljin, deputy commander of the Finnish Gulf Coast Guard, confirmed to Yle that the Russian side had informed Finnish authorities of the repair operation in advance, as required by permit conditions governing activities in Finland’s EEZ.
“The Finnish Border Guard ensures that the repairs are conducted in accordance with the permit conditions. For us, this is a routine monitoring task defined under the Act on the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),” Iljin stated in an email.