cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18212136

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The Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office has seized a vessel as part of an investigation into damage to an underwater fiber-optic communication cable connecting Sweden and Latvia, according to a statement on its website released earlier today. A preliminary investigation has been launched, with suspicions pointing to sabotage. The damage to the cable in the Baltic Sea was discovered on Jan. 26.

The prosecutor’s office stated that “a number of concrete investigative measures” are being conducted but did not disclose further details. The name of the vessel in question has not been made public. The investigation involves Swedish police, the coast guard, and the country’s armed forces.

The damaged cable, owned by the Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC), is located within Sweden’s exclusive economic zone. LVRTC described the damage as significant, with grounds to suspect external interference. A Latvian Navy patrol ship inspected the vessel Michalis San, which was en route to Russia and had been detected near the cable break. No suspicious findings were reported aboard the ship.

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