On Christmas Day, authorities in Estonia and Finland noticed the sudden stoppage of the "Estlink 2" submarine power cable connecting the two countries. This coincided with ship tracking data showing the passage of the vessel "Eagle S," departing from Russia's Baltic coast and route to Egypt.

In November, the Chinese tanker "Yi Ping 3" spent over a month anchored in the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden, suspected of using its anchor to cut two other fiber optic cables, one connecting Germany and Finland and the other connecting Sweden and Lithuania.

According to Swedish prosecutors, Chinese authorities requested the right to conduct their own investigation on board the ship, which Swedish officials allowed for a short period. However, the ship eventually sailed away without any official clarification on whether it was responsible for the damage.

Regarding the "Eagle S" vessel, Finnish authorities were determined to act quickly. They believed the ship was part of Russia's shadow fleet, typically consisting of poorly maintained vessels used to evade sanctions and sometimes to carry out covert operations on behalf of the Kremlin.

The interception and detention of the ship by Finland was one of the most significant steps taken by a Western country so far in response to what officials describe as an escalating campaign of sabotage and counter-sabotage and other "hybrid warfare" activities carried out by both Russia and China.

On the other side of the world, the Taiwanese Coast Guard reported that another ship—registered in both Tanzania and Cameroon but with a Chinese crew—was suspected of being behind another submarine cable cut, the second such incident in the waters surrounding the island in the past three years.

As with the incidents in Europe, these events appear to be deliberately designed to intimidate, although both Moscow and Beijing often deny any involvement.