Deep sea sabotage is Europe’s new war with Russia: Undersea cables are under attack

Ukraine is no longer the frontline of the Russian aggression against Europe.

As part of the shadow war on the continent, Russia has found an easy but rewarding target in Europe’s undersea infrastructure.

Europe has a widespread network of underwater infrastructure that’s used to transfer gas, carry electricity, and ensure communications. Since 2022, Baltic Sea alone has had six suspected sabotages and there have been 11 cases of undersea cables being damaged since 2023, according to Politico.

The Russian threat is being felt across the continent from the Baltics to Nordics to British waters.

In the latest instance, Russian sensors have been found in British waters that are believed to have been deployed to spy on British nuclear submarines, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

What makes undersea sabotage so dangerous

What makes the problem harder is that acts of underwater sabotage are very easy to carry out and difficult to pin on Russia. Even if you find conclusive evidence against Russia, there are limitations to punish because a nation cannot seize a ship outside of its territorial waters extending to 12 nautical miles from the shore.

To carry out an attack, one just needs to lower the ship’s anchor and drag it along the seabed as European seas are very shallow — Baltic Sea’s average depth is only 52 meters and the Gulf of Finland’s just 38 meters deep.

Undersea sabotage is part of Russia’s shadow war on Europe where it has also been held responsible for cyberattacks, arson, parcel bombs, election interference, disinformation campaigns, and harassment and even assassination of dissidents and defectors. Just last month, a Belarusian man was accused of arson in Poland on Russia’s behalf. In the United Kingdom, four Bulgarian nations were convicted of spying for Russia last month.

How undersea attacks can shake Europe

While substantial disruption has not happened so far in Europe from undersea sabotage, there have been signs of what could happen.

Last year, energy bills rose by 10 per cent in Estonia after glitches in one undersea cable, according to Politico.

Europe is highly dependent on undersea infrastructure. For example, Norway supplies a third of European Union’s (EU) gas supplies through undersea pipelines and Ireland receives 10 per cent of its electricity from undersea cables, as per the outlet.

Among undersea cables targeted are gas and power links between Sweden, Finland, Germany, Latvia, and Estonia, and a communications cable between Berlin and Finland.

Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told Politico that “such sabotage activities in the current circumstances could be seen as useful for Russia … that’s the only interpretation”.

“We are witnessing … [a] new reality. We have more and more incidents in the Baltic Sea, which could have an impact for markets, for consumers and also for our businesses,” said Lithuanian Vaiciunas.

A British military official told The Telegraph that there is no doubt about a “war raging in the Atlantic”.

“There should be no doubt, there is a war raging in the Atlantic. This is a game of cat and mouse that has continued since the ending of the Cold War, and is now heating up again. We are seeing phenomenal amounts of Russian activity.” said the official.