Sweden seized a vessel suspected of cutting undersea cables in the Baltic Sea in January 2025, the latest in a string of apparent sabotage incidents in the region. NATO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Swedish prosecutors announced in late January 2025 that they have opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated sabotage and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber-optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland.
“Several authorities, including the National Police Operations Department, the Coast Guard and the Armed Forces, are involved in the investigation,” said Mats Ljungqvist, senior prosecutor at the National Security Unit, according to a news release.
The Swedish Coast Guard confirmed to the newspaper Expressen that they were on site near the vessel, which the paper identified as the Malta-flagged Vezhen, at anchor near the port of Karlskrona. “We are directly on site with the seized ship and are taking measures as decided by the prosecutor,” said Mattias Lindholm, spokesman for the Coast Guard. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that at least one cable belonging to a “Latvian entity” was believed to have been damaged.
The rupture follows a string of incidents that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the strategic region. There have been previous incidents reported of ruptures of data cables running on the Baltic seabed, allegedly linked to Russia’s shadow fleet — hundreds of aging tankers of uncertain ownership that are dodging sanctions and keeping oil revenue coming into the country. In January, NATO began a new mission dubbed “Baltic Sentry,” which includes frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and a fleet of naval drones to provide “enhanced surveillance and deterrence” in the Baltic Sea.