Comment: See also: Russian mall explosion caused by drone - regional head

Comment: See also:
1)
From the same source:
26 Dec, 2024 15:54
NATO state probes Russian tanker over mysterious cable incident - media

The Eagle S was reportedly stopped after an electricity cable linking Finland and Estonia was cut

Authorities in Finland are investigating whether a Russian oil tanker had anything to do with the severing of an undersea electricity cable this week, the Financial Times has reported. The incident was the latest in a series of cable breaks in the region.

Finnish officials stopped the tanker, the Eagle S, after the Estlink 2 electricity cable in the Gulf of Finland was cut on Wednesday, the British newspaper reported on Thursday. The Estlink 2 delivers power from Finland to Estonia, and has been operational since 2014.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that "the authorities are on standby over Christmas and are investigating the matter," while the cable's operator, Fingrid, said that "we are investigating several possible causes, from sabotage to technical failure, and nothing has been ruled out yet."

The Eagle S is the focus of the government's investigation, the Financial Times reported, citing anonymous "people familiar with the probe." No further details were provided, although the paper's sources said that the vessel was also under investigation over the severing of three data cables in the Gulf of Finland last month.

These fiber optic cables linking Finland with Germany, Lithuania, and Sweden. The incident involving the Finland-Sweden cable was later confirmed to have been caused by construction work, while suspicion over the other two breaches initially fell on a Chinese vessel which passed over the cables around the time of the damage.

The ship, the Yi Peng 3, stopped in international waters and was boarded by Chinese investigators last week, with Swedish, Danish, German and Finnish officials present as observers.

It remains unclear whether the Yi Peng 3 had anything to do with the cable incidents. However, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the time that Berlin had to "assume, without certain information, that the damage was caused by sabotage."

Likewise, although investigators have not yet established whether the Eagle S had anything to do with the most recent cable break, Finnish President Alexander Stubb announced on social media on Thursday that "it is necessary to prevent the risks posed by ships belonging to the Russian shadow fleet."

Without evidence for any wrongdoing by the Russian ship, the Finish President jumps from a speculation about what happened to the real goal which is: "it is necessary to prevent the risks posed by ships belonging to the Russian shadow fleet."

The Russian shadow fleet, includes ships that transport oil to prospective buyers, thus in the opinion of some western governments circumvent the sanctions effort put by them against Russia.

While that is one understanding of the Russian shadow fleet, no oil was transported by this ship that was sunk by sabotage or a direct attack on December 23: 'Act of terrorism' sank Russian cargo ship - owner [Update] but it carried goods of strategic value.

Without saying it is the NATO block trying to establish a no sail, or restricted sail zones in some waters?

2)
From the same source, there was earlier this month:
3 Dec, 2024 12:33
Key internet cable connecting NATO states cut

A Swedish minister was quick to cry sabotage but at least one of the ruptures has been proven to have been accidentally caused

A fiber-optic cable linking Sweden and Finland has reportedly been damaged in two separate locations. Finnish police said on Tuesday that "there is no reason to suspect any criminal activity" in connection with the incident.

Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin had suggested earlier in the day that the incident could be a deliberate act, citing the circumstances surrounding the damage.

However, Finnish telecom company Elisa later confirmed that at least one of the breaches was caused by construction work.

Reports emerged on Tuesday of the two cuts, both of which occurred on Finnish soil. The severing of the cable, which connects the Nordic countries, disrupted internet services for thousands of households and businesses in southern Finland.

Global Connect, the line operator, reported that approximately 6,000 households and 100 businesses were affected by the disruption. One of the breaches was repaired overnight, while work on the second was still ongoing.

Swedish media, including SVT and Aftonbladet, initially claimed that Finnish police were investigating the damage as a potential criminal act. However, Finnish authorities later clarified that there was no ongoing investigation into the incident.

"Contrary to media reports, the Finnish police have no ongoing criminal investigation into the damage to the fiber optic cable between Finland and Sweden," a spokesperson stated.

Despite this, Bohlin maintained that sabotage could be involved, saying, "due to the circumstances surrounding what happened, sabotage is suspected."

Jaakko Wallenius, safety director at Elisa, confirmed to Helsingin Sanomat that one of the ruptures had been caused by an excavator during construction work. The incident, he said, was reported promptly and was considered a "very ordinary accident."

Niklas Ekstrom, communications manager at Global Connect, also attributed one of the breaks to construction activities, while the cause of the second breach remains under investigation.

This incident is part of a series of similar disruptions over the past year, with some incidents in the region raising suspicions of sabotage. In October, two undersea cables linking Finland, Germany, and Lithuania were damaged in the Baltic Sea, prompting German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to suggest the possibility of deliberate sabotage.

3)
See also:
Undersea data cable between Germany and Finland broken (Now 2024)
Key communications cable to Norwegian Air Force base 'intentionally cut' (Aug 2024)
Finland blames Chinese ship for Baltic Sea gas pipeline & telecoms cable damage, despite weak evidence (Oct 2023)

Comment: See also:

• 'Deportation Now!': Germans Outraged After Deadly Christmas Market Attack
• Car driven by Saudi national plows through crowded German Christmas market, killing 11 and injuring dozens

Comment:
Apart from the sanctions, recently there was:
'Act of terrorism' sank Russian cargo ship - owner [See comments.]

Comment:
1)
From the same source, there was earlier:
24 Dec, 2024 10:48
Russian cargo ship sinks near Spain (VIDEO)

[...]
The department noted that 16 crewmembers were aboard the Ursa Major at the time of the incident; 14 were rescued by the Spanish coast guard and taken to the port of Cartagena. Two people currently remain missing.

The Ursa Major was in transit between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok at the time of the incident. It left port on December 11 and was scheduled to arrive on January 22, according to ship-tracking service Marine Traffic.

Spanish media was first to report on the incident earlier on Tuesday. According to El Espanol, the explosion took place on the afternoon of December 23, when the ship was heading east towards the Strait of Gibraltar. After that, the Ursa Major deviated from its course and began to list. Several vessels that were fishing in the area at the time took part in the rescue efforts, and were later joined by Maritime Rescue specialists from the Clara Campoamor and the Navy patrol boat Serviola, the report stated.
[...]

2) From the main article:

The company did not name a culprit in the alleged act of terrorism. Ukraine has previously taken responsibility for multiple attacks on Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Ursa Major sent a distress signal as it transited the Strait of Gibraltar.

A look at the history of Gibraltar might help:

Gibraltar (/dʒɪˈbrɔːltər/ ^ⓘ jib-RAWL-tər, Spanish: [xiβɾalˈtaɾ]) is a British Overseas Territory^[a] and city^[6] located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (Strait of Gibraltar).^[7][8] It has an area of 6.8 km² (2.6 sq mi)^[3] and is bordered to the north by Spain (Campo de Gibraltar). The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to some 34,003 people, primarily Gibraltarians.^[9]

Gibraltar was founded as a permanent watchtower by the Almohads in 1160. It switched control between the Nasrids, Castilians and Marinids in the Late Middle Ages, acquiring larger strategic clout upon the destruction of nearby Algeciras c. 1375. It became again part of the Crown of Castile in 1462. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession, and it was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It became an important base for the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, as it controlled the narrow entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through it.^[10][11][12]

So what do you think happened here?

One question might also be why if it was going from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok it was: "heading east towards the Strait of Gibraltar"? Anyway, if this could happen in the Strait of Gibraltar will a future incident be in the Danish Straits at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, which now is encircled by hostile NATO states.

Updates
3)
A translation of a Russian article gives some details and perspectives:
Source: MK.ru
Author: Olga Fedorova
Published: 26 December, 13:34 UTC
"Overlooked": an expert reveals who is to blame for the terrorist attack on the Ursa Major

"A team of 16 people is not enough"

The cargo ship Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea as a result of a terrorist attack. This was announced on December 26 by representatives of Oboronlogistics, the company that owns the ship. "Three explosions occurred on the starboard side of the Ursa Major, which caused the crash," the statement said.

After three explosions, a hole measuring 50 by 50 centimeters was discovered on the starboard side of the vessel. The hole was noticed after a general alarm was declared during an external emergency inspection of the vessel; the hole was located approximately 15-30 centimeters above the water level.

"The edges of the hole were torn and directed into the ship. The deck of the ship was strewn with fragments," the company said.

According to Andrei Kolesnik, a member of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defense, NATO countries that are trying to squeeze Russia out of international waters, as well as Ukraine, may be involved in the terrorist attack. Ursa Major was carrying valuable cargo to the Far East - heavy port cranes for the Northern Sea Route and hatch covers for new icebreakers.

Experts from the Archangel Spetsnaz resource are confident that the version of a terrorist attack is more than possible, if we recall the Nord Stream explosions. Recent episodes on submarine cables connecting Scandinavia with Europe - an external trace was also exposed there.

By the way, both at the Nord Streams and in the situation with the cables, NATO exercises related to underwater operations took place near the site of the incidents. For example, the Spaniards trained near the Canary Islands last week. In September-October, off the coast of Portugal, the Navy of that country trained in the use of unmanned kamikaze boats. Now we need to figure out which route our ship took and what could have happened.

"It is curious that the Ursa Major ship was heading to Vladivostok and was carrying equipment for Russian icebreakers. Very specific equipment that our country needs for the development of the Arctic, a region for which a serious confrontation is unfolding," the expert noted.

Analysts of the Military Chronicle channel note that we must not forget that plans of Great Britain and Ukraine to destabilize the situation in Russia and the border countries of Central Asia were recently leaked onto the Internet, with the aim of causing chaos and provocative news feeds.

In a conversation with MK, reserve captain 1st rank Vasily Dandykin said what could be hidden behind a possible terrorist attack:

"It is likely that the explosion was provoked by Ukrainian special services under the cover of Western curators. Although Kyiv is silent now, they were probably told not to comment on this.

- Could the torpedoes have been launched from NATO bases?

"The enemies did it": Captain 1st Rank Fatigarov told who benefited from the terrorist attack on a Russian cargo ship

- There is indeed a base in Gibraltar, but it is important to note that the British authorities did not take any action while the ship was passing through the Bay of Biscay.

However, these events are clearly linked to the actions of British intelligence agencies such as MI6, who are highly skilled in underwater sabotage.

I still believe that it was a multi-pass, starting from St. Petersburg, where the ship was undergoing repairs. The process of preparing for a terrorist attack could not take just one week. It was necessary to know the route, cargo and all the details in advance.

- So we overlooked it?

- After the events that happened two years ago with Nord Stream, one could expect anything. In particular, this applies to this incident, since the cargo that the ship was carrying was dual-use and was under the control of the special services.

People associated with this ship may have their own opinions about what is happening. However, in my opinion, if such a ship with important cargo is sent on a serious journey, a team of 16 people is clearly not enough to ensure the safety and fight for the survivability of the ship in such conditions. Moreover, it was not a warship after all, so it was moving quite slowly.

It was necessary to take into account the dangers in this region and the characteristics of the cargo he was carrying. Consequently, it was necessary to take care of safety, perhaps even provide for escort of the vessel.

There is also the name of the ship Ursa Major, which is also the name of the star constellation, which in English as the Great Bear, with the Bear being the

4)
The Russian media, KP.ru published on 25 December 19:40 UTC
The Ursa Major was sunk by the same people who blew up the Nord Stream: Colonel Baranets, an intelligence veteran, analysis the terrorist attack on Ursa Major
The article ends:

Well, the loss of the "Big Dipper" suggests that Ukraine and its masters in the USA and Britain have already finally switched to a terrorist war against us on land, in the air and at sea.

5)
Below is an image that shows the location of the event:

Apart from this ship, Russia has since the beginning of December lost three ships in the Black Sea.

Comment: Eyes that see, ears that hear, minds that comprehend know the damage done to the US by this administration by hollow Joe Biden and the threat of more ramifications to come.