Two internet cables in the Baltic Sea have been cut, and one current guess is that it was done by a Chinese vessel at the behest of Russia. But why cut an obscure cable between Sweden and Lithuania? Rod Thornton, an expert at King's College London, explains:
“It’s cutting a cable that isn’t going to offend too many countries. They could have gone to the Atlantic and cut a cable there between the US and the UK, or between Europe and the US, which could have major, major consequences, so this is a kind of warning shot,” Thornton said.
OK. Second question: why did China get involved, if indeed they did? Answer: Possibly because they wanted the practice for a future war with Taiwan.
Maybe. Of course, the last time something happened in the Baltic we blamed Russia and it turned out to be a Ukrainian op. So don't make up your mind too quickly on this.
Lithuania and Sweden are both NATO countries, yes? Or are they just “nato” …
What's the distinction?
Think you are mixing up two different past events: destruction of Nordstrom 2 (Ukraine Op with explosives) and breaking of communications cables (Chinese ship rented by Russia dragging anchor). The latter was the more recent.
'Last time' seems to indicate a past incident.
You're a gullible idiot if you think we know it was that chinse vessel. The people presently claiming that are all professional liars. So while it might have been the chinese, as kevin said, take that with a grain of salt at the present time.
'Last time', to us Finns, was when the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia (+ a data cable) was cut almost exactly a year ago: https://yle.fi/a/74-20056827.
Putin is hot and horny to take over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. This could be an early probe as part of invasion planning.
"Of course, the last time something happened in the Baltic we blamed Russia and it turned out to be a Ukrainian op." Only the stupidest people on the planet fell for the obvious lie it was the Russians. Anyone with two functioning brain cells knew the most likely culprit were the Ukrainians with the americans a distant 2nd.