Polands military intervened after a ship from theRussian shadow fleet was seen carrying out suspicious maneuvers near a power cable television linking Poland with Sweden, the Polish Prime Minister said on Wednesday.NATO has actually stepped up security in the Baltic following astring of incidentsin which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have actually been damaged in the wake ofRussias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
ARussian ship from the shadow fleet covered by sanctions performed suspicious maneuvers near the power cable connecting Poland with Sweden, Prime Minister Donald Tusk composed on X.
After the effective intervention of our military, the ship cruised to one of theRussian ports.
The term shadow fleet describes vessels used byRussiato ship oil, arms and grains in violation of international sanctions enforced after the invasion.Speaking later on to press reporters, Polish Defense Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said a patrol flight frightened the ship off and the Polish Navys ORP Heweliusz was cruising to the scene.Vice Admiral Krzysztof Jaworski, Polands Maritime Component Commander, informed Reuters that the tanker in concern was called Sun and that it sailed under the Antigua flag.TheRussian Embassy in Warsawdeclined to comment.
In the past, Moscowhas deniedits involvement in undersea sabotage in the Baltic, stating the West was utilizing such claims to suppress its seaborne oil exports.The 600-megawatt undersea cable television connects the Swedish coast near Karlshamn with Ustka in northern Poland and allows both grids to depend on cross-border supplies when electrical power is less expensive in the other system.A representative for Polish grid operator PSE stated the cable was working.
PSE information showed over 600 megawatts were streaming to Sweden through the cable at 11:30 GMT.
This demonstrates how hazardous the times we live in are, how serious the scenario in the Baltic Sea is, Kosiniak-Kamysz informed a news conference.
Since Sweden and Finland joined the North Atlantic Alliance, the Baltic Sea has become a key marine location, where the largest variety of occurrences happen, the most typical incidents connected to cable television breaks ...
and sabotage.
He pledged a firm reaction from Poland and NATO to any attack on Baltic Sea infrastructure.Swedens coast guard declined to comment.
Reuters was not instantly able to reach Swedens minister for civil defense.