Are the Baltics under threat?

Damage to undersea pipelines, bomb threats and cyberattacks increase suspicion of Russian hostility

Russian submarine
The disabling of the Balticconnector pipeline between Finland and Estonia could have been a 'deliberate act of sabotage'
(Image credit: Illustrated / Getty Images)

The Baltic states – former Soviet colonies who are among Russia's most outspoken critics – fear they are facing an increasing threat of retaliation for their enthusiastic Nato membership and support for Ukraine. 

More than 750 schools and kindergartens across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania received emailed bomb threats last week. Lithuania's police chief called them "a coordinated mass attack", according to The Associated Press in Vilnius (the site of the latest Nato summit) – with the majority of messages in Russian, some with a political message.  

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.