Ten months later, China said a Hong Kong-registered vessel, the Newnew Polar Bear, had caused the damage accidentally in a storm. Finland remains skeptical of the admission, saying there were no storms in the area on the day the damage was detected.

Germany’s defense minister said damage to two fiber-optic cables on the sea floor appeared deliberate, but a culprit was not known.

European officials are looking toward Russia after two submarine internet cables in the Baltic Sea were suddenly disrupted in an apparent sabotage operation, just weeks after the United States warned that Moscow was likely to target critical undersea infrastructure.

Swedish investigators are looking into the movements of a Chinese vessel in the Baltic Sea after two internet cables were severed in what some Western leaders suspect was an act of sabotage.

Two undersea fibre-optic communications cables in the Baltic Sea, including one linking Finland and Germany, were severed, raising suspicions of sabotage by bad actors, countries and companies involved said on Monday.

The Danish military is staying near a Chinese ship that may be linked to damaged data cables in the Baltic Sea.Most Read from BloombergParis to Replace Parking Spaces With TreesTrump Promises Could Ha