While the incident will not necessarily, though it could, lead to World War III, the move and everything that accompanied it suggests that major market disruptions are on the way that will be blamed on this latest attack.
Rabobank's Michael Every told clients this week that the following happened in addition to the two cut cables:
• Two of Finland's five nuclear power plants had to be shut down
• A key Norwegian oilfield had to be shut down due to a power outage
• The support cable on a suspension bridge in Finland broke
The Finland National Bureau of Investigation (FNBI) announced that based on a preliminary investigation, it "decided to open a criminal investigation into the damage caused to the sea cable," this referring to the cut cable that had been linked to Finland from Germany.
"The suspected criminal act is currently being investigated as aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications," reads a statement from the FNBI about the Cinia C-Lion-1 telecoms cable, as it is officially called.
Finland's Office of the Prosecutor General is working with the FNBI on behalf of Cinia, which requested an investigation on November 19, only to have the authorities agree to one just one day later on November 20.
(Related: Did you hear? Ukraine already struck Russia with a long-range missile just one day after Biden gave Zelensky the green light to bomb away.)
Is Russia behind these attacks?
Yi Peng 3, a Chinese-registered bulk carrier, reportedly damaged not one but two undersea data cables: the one connecting Finland to Germany and another connecting Sweden to Lithuania. Since the carrier is currently anchored in Kattegat Bay alongside a Danish Navy vessel called "DNK NAVY PATROL P525," the Danish Navy is looking into the matter.
"Denmark exercised the right under Art. X of the Submarine Cables Convention," tweeted X / Twitter user "Visegrád 24." "It's been done only once before, by the USA in 1959."
We also now know that the Yi Peng 3 was "chased, intercepted, and boarded" by another Danish Navy vessel called "Y311 Søløven."
"The vessel sailed from Russia & the captain is Russian," Visegrád 24 further revealed.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told journalists at a recent meeting in Brussels that the severing of the Cinia C-Lion-1 submarine cables is an act of sabotage.
"Nobody believes that these cables were severed by accident," he said. "Therefore, we must state – without concrete knowledge of who was responsible – that this was a hybrid action. And we must assume, without being certain, that this was sabotage."
The foreign ministers of Finland and Germany both commented as well to condemn Russia for the attacks.
"Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies," reads a joint statement from the two.
Some of the entities investigating the situation have decided to classify their investigations due to the sensitive nature of what has transpire and what it could lead to in the coming days.
BREAKING:
Some of the Baltic Sea countries affected by the destruction of undersea telecom cables by the Chinese vessel Yi Peng have announced how they’re classifying their investigations.
?? - Sabotage
?? - sabotage
?? - Terrorism
The Danish Navy has boarded the Chinese ship pic.twitter.com/mkxSbujUix
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 20, 2024
"The likely motive behind this clandestine offensive is to spread panic, bind security resources, and increase pressure on Western governments by boosting political parties who are campaigning against the massive aid provided to Ukraine, according to politicians, security and law-enforcement officials and intelligence operatives from several European nations and the U.S.," The Wall Street Journal reported.
More related news about the escalations that are leading the world to the brink of another world war can be found at WWIII.news.
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