Kremlin propagandists have discussed the severing of a power cable in the Baltic Sea which has been blamed on Moscow, referring to how it was part of an escalatory move by Russia to regain control over the “NATO Lake.”
One Russian MP told the NTV channel that the cutting the Estlink-2 cable between Estonia and Finland on Christmas Day was part of a “response to Ukraine’s aggressive actions,” in the clip shared by Russian watcher Julia Davis.
Next to the video she posted, Davis wrote how the show’s guests and hosts had “complained that Europe is still not freezing and isn’t suffering nearly enough.”
Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry and NATO for comment.
Why it matters
The incident is the latest which has added to alarm among European leaders that Moscow is conducting sabotage attacks in response to EU support for Ukraine. There are fears that Moscow could step up “hybrid attacks” to test NATO’s resolve in a region which has seen an expansion of the alliance.
What to know
Finnish authorities are investigating a severed undersea power cable after they had discovered a 60-mile-long anchor drag mark on the seafloor.
Helsinki says the incident is linked to the Eagle S, which is thought to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of ships used to evade western oil sanctions and the cable between Finland and Estonia was damaged along with multiple data cables.
Hosts of the program Mesto Vstrechi (Meeting Place), Andrey Norkin and Ivan Trushkin, argued Moscow had little to gain from attacking cables in the Baltic Sea.
However, their guests suggested that Moscow was behind the incident, without directly claiming it was responsible.
Ex-deputy foreign minister Andrey Federov said the latest incident was a “deliberate destruction of a cable,” suggesting that it was “a beautiful story, we were sailing and we accidentally dropped our anchor and accidentally hit a cable.”
Trushkin asked him what Russia would gain from only “a few thousand people being left without lights” and questioned if the incident had not caused all of Helsinki to freeze, “then what it the point of doing it?”
Federov replied, “to create problems for them and it is creating problems.”
Another guest, Russian MP Alexander Kazakov, said that the Baltic Sea has become “a theater of military operations” and that Russia is carrying out one main task of “liberating” the Black Sea and restoring its status as a maritime power.
Ukrainian drone and missile strikes have pushed vessels from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet away from its main base in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, to Novorossiysk in Russia’s Krasnodar region.
Kazakov said if NATO’s plans for Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliance had been realized, Russia’s influence in the Black Sea would have been “practically eliminated” and left it with only one port, in Novorossiysk.
“They have already done the same with the entire Baltic Sea, let’s not delude ourselves, this is NATO’s internal sea,” Kazakov said, referring to the accession to the alliance of Finland and Sweden.
Amid NATO’s increase presence in the Baltic, Russia maintains a strong presence in the region in St Petersburg as well as in its Kaliningrad exclave which hosts significant military assets.
Meanwhile in Russia: State Duma member Alexander Kazakov explained why Russia is cutting undersea cables. Propagandists complained that Europe is still not freezing and isn’t suffering nearly enough, as they contemplated “punishing” it after this war ends.https://t.co/lk88RZTgdy
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) January 6, 2025
“Our goal is to liberate the Baltic Sea for ourselves, this is a theater of military operations. What’s happening is an escalation in response to Ukraine’s aggressive actions.”
“Our people said, ‘let’s inflict damage upon NATO’” he said, “for example let’s cut the cables—here you go, we are cutting them.”
He said Russia can only regain control of the Baltic Sea on land because “naval battles would not help us,” adding, “we are provoking them into an escalation of a situation in the Black Sea so that we have something to respond to.”
What people are saying
Russian MP Alexander Kazakov: “Our goal is to liberate the Baltic Sea for ourselves, this is a theater of military operations. What’s happening is an escalation in response to Ukraine’s aggressive actions.”
Julia Davis, Russia watcher and journalist: “Propagandists complained that Europe is still not freezing and isn’t suffering nearly enough, as they contemplated “punishing” it after this war ends.”
What happens next
Finland’s Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) said last week it would conduct an inspection of the Eagle S in a process which could take several days.
The agency said that there would be a separate police operation and that the findings would be made public upon completion, without specifying when.
Meanwhile, concerns may grow among European leaders that Russia might stage further attacks on Baltic Sea infrastructure.
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