An underwater optical cable of the Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC) has been damaged in the Baltic Sea, BNS reports.

The center's data transmission monitoring system detected a data transmission malfunction on the Ventspils-Gotland section. LVRTC will continue to provide its services via other data transmission routes, so users in Latvia should not have any disruptions in the future. 'At this particular time, we have every reason to believe that the cable has been significantly damaged and that the damage was caused by external influence. Investigation has been launched on the case. The cable has been located at a depth of more than 50 m, so the nature of the violation will become clear only after the start of repair work', said LVRTC spokesperson Vineta Sprugainė.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina recently held a meeting of ministers and relevant services, which was followed by a press conference. Meanwhile, the Latvian armed forces announced that they had identified a ship that could be related to the damage to the underwater cable and the Latvian naval forces sent a patrol boat to inspect it.

The Maritime Operations Center analyzed the traffic of ships in the area of the cable damage and identified two more ships that were outside the territorial waters of Latvia and the exclusive economic zone. The armed forces also informed their NATO allies, including Sweden, of the incident and exchanged information regarding the incident. In recent months, several underwater telecommunications and electric cables have been cut off in the Baltic Sea, which according to experts and politicians, could be part of the so-called hybrid war organized by Russia.

On Sunday, Sweden reported that it had seized a ship suspected of having damaged a fiber-optic cable under the Baltic Sea linking the country to Latvia, which sent a warship to investigate the latest apparent act of sabotage.
"A vessel suspected of having committed the sabotage has been seized," the statement added.

Latvia's navy earlier said it had identified a "suspect vessel", the Michalis San, near the location of the incident along with two other ships.

"We have a warship patrolling the Baltic Sea around the clock every day and night, allowing us to quickly dispatch it once we learnt about the damage," Latvian navy commander Maris Polencs said at a briefing Sunday.

On November 17, one of the three communication cables laid in the Baltic Sea from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania was broken. It has since been fixed and is now working properly. Swedish media reported earlier this month about several attempts to damage NordBalt, the underwater electric cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden, whose monitoring has now been strengthened by the Naval forces in the Baltic Sea.

In early January, NATO announced a new tracking mission in the Baltic Sea, including patrol boats and aircraft, with the aim of preventing any attempt to attack the underwater infrastructure in the region.