Taiwan reported the shutdown of undersea communication cables leading to the Mazzu Islands

Two undersea communication cables between Taiwan and the Mazzu Islands were completely disabled, Reuters reported on January 22, citing Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Development.

Officials said the likely cause was natural wear and tear, and in this case there were no suspicious vessels near the infrastructure.

After the incident, backup means of communication were activated in order to at least partially restore the work of the Internet on the islands, where about 14 thousand people live.

The failed cables are scheduled to be back in operation at the end of February. As indicated by "Gazeta.Ru", sources of the agency specified that a serious malfunction occurred on one of them.

Cable personalities: who could have damaged Estlink 2

The submarine cable accident has once again raised the issue of safety in the Baltic Sea

Earlier, on December 25, 2024, the EstLink 2 DC cable between Estonia and Finland suffered an emergency shutdown for an unknown reason. A trace of an anchor was found on the bottom, which was later found and raised. The Finnish police stopped the Cook Islands-flagged tanker Eagle S on suspicion of the incident. The crew members were banned from leaving the country.

After the accident, NATO decided to strengthen its presence in the Baltic Sea, and in January warships of the alliance member countries arrived in Estonia. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the West needed versions of Russia's connection to the cable damage to reduce shipping in the Baltic Sea.

At the same time, The Washington Post reported on January 19 that Western countries have found no evidence of the Russian side's involvement in the incident. According to the latest versions, the cables failed due to accidental accidents rather than sabotage.