EU Sees Russian Sabotage, But Can't Prove It — WSJ

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Although the "Russian trace" can be seen in several high-profile incidents involving damage to critical infrastructure in the European Union, the cases themselves are being held up, The Wall Street Journal writes . Russia prefers to act through private companies, and it is not possible to collect sufficient evidence for a criminal case by EU standards. And in some cases, they prefer not to mention Russia officially even when there is circumstantial evidence, the newspaper writes.

• The publication, in particular, recalls the incident with the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline by the anchor of the Chinese vessel Newnew Polar Bear in October 2023. But the vessel had a Russian crew, and the nuclear container ship Sevmorput was following closely behind it during the incident, the publication notes.
• Also suspicious is the damage to an important fiber-optic cable near Spitsbergen just before the war began. The Russian trawler Melkart-5, owned by Murman SeaFood, was operating in the area and passed over the damaged area about 100 times. “Its captain was questioned, but no evidence was found, and the company did not claim responsibility,” the WSJ writes.
• In the same vein, the October 2022 disruption to the German railway infrastructure, caused by simultaneous damage to data cables 300 km apart. "It looks like Russia. It smells like Russia," says one investigator.

The article comes ahead of the expected publication of a report by the Norwegian Police Security Service on acts of sabotage by Russia. The most high-profile allegations in recent months have involved GPS jamming in northern Europe.