The Danish military is monitoring a Chinese ship in its waters just days after two underwater telecommunication cables were cut in a possible act of sabotage, according to local authorities.

European governments accused Russia on Tuesday of escalating hybrid attacks on Ukraine’s Western allies.

But, the Kremlin has strongly dismissed suggestions it was involved in the damage caused to the telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea as “absurd”.

Undersea cables severed

The fibre-optic data cable between Sweden and Lithuania was damaged on Sunday, while the other cable which runs between Finland and Germany was damaged on Monday.

This happened in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone and Swedish prosecutors have started a preliminary investigation on suspicion of possible sabotage.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Russia poses not just a military but also a hybrid threat and Europe needs to take a broad approach to defence.

He added that the damage to the two cables was “a very clear sign that something is afoot.”

“No one believes these cables were severed by mistake, and I also don’t want to believe versions that it was anchors that by chance caused damage to these cables,” he said.

Similar suspicions of a possible sabotage have been echoed by Finland’s foreign ministry.

Russia denies involvement

European officials stopped short of directly accusing Russia of destroying the cables.

Germany, Poland and others have said it was likely an act of sabotage, Russia criticised any suggestions it was involved in the severed cables incidents.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday “it is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.”

“It is probably laughable against the background of the lack of any reaction to Ukraine’s sabotage activities in the Baltic Sea,” he said, referring to Nord Stream gas pipe explosions in September 2022, which Moscow blamed on Kyiv and Western countries.

Why is a Chinese ship being closely watched?

The Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden on Wednesday, according to tracking data from a Danish navy patrol ship.

“The Danish Defence can confirm that we are present in the area near the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3,” the military said in a post on social media X, adding it had no further comments.

Swedish police later told local news agency TT they were also interested in the Yi Peng 3 and said there might be other vessels of interest to Sweden’s investigation.

Traffic data showed the Chinese ship left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15 and was in the areas where the cable damages occurred, but other ships had also been in the areas.

Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin told Reuters on Tuesday that the country’s armed forces and coastguard had picked up ship movements which corresponded with the interruption of two telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea.

A Chinese government spokesperson said it always required its vessels to abide by relevant laws and regulations.

“We also attach great importance to the protection of seabed infrastructure and, together with the international community, we are actively promoting the construction and protection of submarine cables and other global information infrastructures,” the spokesperson said.

Reuters/AP