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Attacks on underwater cables running through strategically significant bodies of water in both the Baltic Sea and the South China Sea by Russia and China, respectively, in recent months has top officials concerned they are not “mere coincidence.”
Maritime sabotage efforts in both regions of the world appear to have been on the rise over the last several years, with a notable spike in recent months after at least three separate attacks occurred in as many months, beginning in November, and the top suspects are Russia and China.
“The Kremlin has been running a hybrid campaign against Europe for years, ranging from spreading disinformation and cyberattacks to weaponizing energy supplies. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, these efforts have intensified dramatically,” EU High Representative Kaja Kallas told Fox News Digital. “However, Russia is not the only challenge we face.”
Kaja Kallas (Nicolas Landemard/Anadolu via Getty Images/File)
But China isn’t the only country suspected of sabotaging international undersea cables.
A vessel accused of being tied to Russia has been seized by Finland, which is investigating a suspected attack that damaged four telecommunications and the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power cables on Christmas Day by, again, dragging its anchor across the seabed.
A Finnish tugboat is seen near the oil tanker Eagle S off the Porkkalanniemi peninsula in the Gulf of Finland on Dec. 28, 2024. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva/via REUTERS )
The tanker dubbed Eagle S is suspected of being used by Moscow under a scheme known as “shadow fleet” which relies on dated vessels under dubious ownership to help Russia skirt sanctions and keep up its oil exports to help finance its war in Ukraine.
Neither the Pentagon nor the White House responded to Fox News Digital’s questions about whether the recent attacks in both regions of the world are connected. But security experts have signaled that in international politics there is little room for “coincidence.”
“Despite the lack of public information clearly proving Chinese and Russian coordination and collusion, I don’t believe in coincidence in international affairs,” former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Heino Klinck told Fox News Digital. “Both malign actors thrive in the gray zone, and these attacks seem to be mutually reinforcing and mutually inspiring as they demonstrate the ineffectual international response to date.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a reception of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 23, 2024. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS)
NATO on Tuesday will announce a new defensive strategy titled “Baltic Sentry” that will involve the deployment of more ships, a naval drone fleet and the use of AI to better detect, deter and respond to attacks or acts of sabotage in the Baltic Sea, a NATO spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
NATO did not respond to questions about whether the alliance assesses the recent maritime sabotage to be a coordinated operation between Russia and China, though a Western security official familiar with the intelligence on the attacks said these are not believed to be incidents of opportunity.
“It seems to be a bit more coordinated than one could initially think,” said the security official, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity. “It’s not just that somebody throws the anchor, and then they see what happens. This is a bit more planned and a bit more coordinated.”