U.S. allies warned of "hybrid warfare" Tuesday after two undersea communication cables were severed in the Baltic Sea, raising suspicions that they may be the latest acts of sabotage targeting the West as it clashes with Russia.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Tuesday that "no one believes that these cables were cut accidentally" after a rupture in a 730-mile cable linking Germany and Finland was detected Monday.
"We have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action," he said.
Western officials have accused the Kremlin of intensifying a campaign targeting Ukraine's allies while assaulting its neighbor in a war that reached 1,000 days on Tuesday.
"European security is not only under threat from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors," the foreign ministers of Germany and Finland said in a joint statement.
Persons:
Boris Pistorius, Arelion, NATO —
Organizations:
German, NBC, Swedish Armed Forces, NATO
Locations:
Baltic, Russia, Germany, Finland, Gotland, Ukraine