According to Wall Street Journal sources, the authorities do not want to publicly blame Russia in order to avoid panic among citizens.
The Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3, suspected of cutting communication cables in the Baltic Sea, received instructions from the Russian intelligence service, says the newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The newspaper bases its information on anonymous official sources involved in the investigation.
According to the WSJ’s sources, Russian intelligence managed to persuade the captain of the Yi Peng 3 to cut the communication cables using an anchor.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in cutting the cables. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time that he considered the claims “absurd and ridiculous”.
Sources tell the newspaper that the Russian corvette Merkur arrived in the Kattegat in the sea area between Denmark and Sweden on November 21 and conducted an electronic reconnaissance of Yi Peng 3 and its surroundings. The ship’s movements have also been previously confirmed Helsingin Sanomat.
According to the WSJ, the Russian ship transmitted encrypted information to its headquarters, which is located in the Russian city of Kaliningrad.
The Merkuri corvette belongs to the Russian Black Sea Fleet. It operates mainly in the Mediterranean and escorts Russian cargo ships that violate sanctions.
The article also assesses NATO’s difficulties in reacting to events in the Baltic Sea. According to the WSJ’s sources, the authorities do not want to publicly blame Russia to avoid panic among citizens.
In Finland, the news was reported earlier Online news.
The Chinese ship visited Russia several times
reported in November that there was a clear turn in the operations of the Chinese ship last spring. On March 16, Yi Peng 3 left for the port of Nakhodka in the Russian Far East.
After this, Yi Peng 3 has made at least three trips to Murmansk, Russia, and one to Ust-Luga, i.e. Laukaansuu, near St. Petersburg, according to the MarineTraffic database, which tracks ship traffic.
According to the site’s historical data, Yi Peng 3 had not been to Russia once during the review period that started in 2015 before last spring. After March 2024, however, it has not returned to China even once.
It is unclear why the Chinese company that owns the ship changed its operating methods in the spring of 2024 and whether it was based on, for example, starting cooperation with a Russian entity.