Swedish authorities have seized a ship suspected of damaging a data cable passing under the Baltic Sea to Latvia.
Prosecutors said the preliminary investigation indicated an act of sabotage, and an investigation was opened involving the Swedish police, army and coast guard.
Earlier on Sunday, the Latvian army reported that two ships were seen in the area where the damage occurred.
The apparent attack comes less than a month after NATO launched a new mission in the Baltic Sea in response to repeated attacks on underwater power and communications cables – some of which have been blamed on Russia.
Latvian Prime Minister Ivica Selina said that her country is working closely with Sweden and NATO in response to the incident.
The cable is owned by Latvia's state broadcaster, LVRTC, which said in a statement that there would be “interruptions in data transmission services,” but that end users would mostly not be affected.
Earlier this month, NATO launched its new “Baltic Sentry” mission, after several cables under the Baltic Sea were damaged or cut in 2024.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the mission will include more patrol aircraft, warships and drones.
While Russia has not been directly identified as the culprit in the cable damage, Rutte said NATO would intensify its monitoring of Moscow's “shadow fleet” — ships that have no clear ownership and are used to transport banned oil products.
Rutte said there was “reason for serious concern” about the damage to infrastructure, adding that NATO would respond to any future incidents forcefully, with more boarding of suspected vessels, and confiscation of them if necessary.
Finnish police said late last year that they were investigating whether a Russian ship was involved in sabotaging an electrical cable running between Finland and Estonia.
