Lithuania assessing damage to undersea telecom cable to Latvia

by AFP Staff Writers
Vilnius (AFP) Jan 5, 2026
Lithuanian experts are studying the damage to an undersea fibre-optic cable in the Baltic Sea linking the country to Latvia, the country's NKVC crisis management centre said Monday.

The damage was first reported by Latvian authorities on Sunday. The NKVC said it was too early to say whether Russia was involved.

"We are assessing what the possible consequences of this entire incident," Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the centre head, told reporters.

The damage was first detected on January 2, said the NKVC. Latvian authorities announced their investigation on Sunday.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said Sunday that "the incident has not affected Latvian communication users".

Latvian police had suspected that a vessel, which later docked in a Baltic port, may have damaged the cable.

However, they stated in a press release Monday that their findings do "not indicate the connection of the ship in question with the damage".

There have been a series of sea incidents in the Baltic Sea since 2023, when undersea cables and power lines have been damaged and Russia blamed.

Martin Sjogren, press officer for Arelion, the company that owns the cable, told AFP that repair work was underway.

"We are cooperating with authorities across the Baltic Sea region to investigate the cause of these incidents," he added.

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