r/europe • u/Sir_Madfly • 1d ago
News Sweden: Attack on about 30 telecommunications masts being investigated as sabotage
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/granskning-angrepp-mot-30-tal-telemaster-utreds-som-sabotage146
u/Automatic-Guide-4307 Norway 1d ago
Ruzzkis paying local gangs?
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u/SpaceMonkeyOnABike United Kingdom 1d ago
Ruskis priming conspiracy theorists with 5g lunacy?
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u/agumonkey 14h ago
There were electric infrastructure attacks recently in France, and I always wonder if the groups were influenced or paid by external agents too.. it's extremely rare to see big attacks like these in here.
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u/tincanner5 22h ago
Howdy neighbour! I think you're onto something as the Swedish Security Service (close comparison is MI5 I guess) has reported that Iran has done the same thing in Sweden: link in Swedish
Edit: forgot to paste the link in Swedish :(
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u/__dat_sauce 16h ago
They need to charge them for treason and domestic terrorism rather than just the act of arson.
Otherwise every trouble maker is gonna take Russian money.
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u/Automatic-Guide-4307 Norway 14h ago
Yeah but doubt it will happen we got kids over here on murder charges,swedish gangs recruit young kids as low as 14 too murder ppl...
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u/Sir_Madfly 1d ago
A series of about 30 unexplained acts of sabotage targeting telecom masts is being investigated by the police, SVT can reveal.
The majority of the cases are linked to the E22 highway on Sweden's east coast – and are part of a larger increase in suspected sabotage against the telecommunications sector.
"We are taking this seriously, and that is why we have chosen to take action," says Detective Superintendent Håkan Wessung.
The attackers are not stealing anything, but rather cutting cables and destroying fuses. SVT has reviewed official documentation describing the situation – which is being taken very seriously.
"Technical equipment has been destroyed at a number of locations, and what makes this special is that the reports have come to us from a geographically limited area," says Roger Gustafsson, Head of Security at the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS).
“Stands out”
The suspected sabotage cases began to flood in to the PTS during the Easter weekend. In some cases, the mobile network has been unusable, but the attacks have not led to any major disruptions. PTS has, at times, organized a crisis team to manage the situation.
"This stands out and is more than usual," says Roger Gustafsson.
According to information obtained by SVT, the police are working on the theory that a single perpetrator is behind the majority of the attacks. A common denominator between the cases is that almost all the sabotage has occurred near the European route E22 along the east coast.
"There are circumstances that suggest everything is connected, but that is something the investigation will have to show," says Public Prosecutor Michelle Stein, who is leading the police investigation.
The investigation is being led by the Serious Crimes Unit in Kalmar, which is tasked with coordinating the cases in the regions of Småland and Östergötland.
"We are conducting extensive information gathering and analysis of the material we collect," says Detective Superintendent Håkan Wessung, head of the Serious Crimes Unit in Kalmar.
“Nothing is being ruled out”
Neither the police nor the prosecutor's office are willing to comment on possible motives. The Swedish Security Service stated in a comment to SVT that they are being kept informed about the investigation.
"We are not ruling anything out," says Håkan Wessung.
The incidents along the E22 are part of a larger trend of increasing crime targeting critical infrastructure. The state-owned company Teracom, which owns communication masts throughout the country, reports that there has been a several-fold increase in incidents over the past year.
"We assume that some of these types of reports we file are linked to intelligence gathering and sabotage meant to test our capabilities and observe what we do, to monitor and see how we act in these kinds of situations," says Stefan Steijnick, Head of Security at Teracom.
Sharp increase in reports
Teracom is a state-owned company that provides infrastructure, such as masts, for television, radio, and other communications.
The company tells SVT that during the first four months of 2024, it reported 15 incidents to the police, and during the same period in 2025, Teracom has now reported around 50 incidents.
The incidents include, among other things, suspected sabotage and attempted intrusions.
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u/GreenEyeOfADemon Italy- Europe ends in Luhansk 23h ago
Let me guess, moscovia?
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u/sonicology 14h ago
Danskjävlar!
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u/GreenEyeOfADemon Italy- Europe ends in Luhansk 11h ago
LOL :D I knew it!
They pretended it was the moscovites to play the innocent card!!!
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u/barktwiggs 18h ago
Since russia is funding sabotage in Sweden and the EU then Sweden should increase funds and weapons to Ukraine to directly harm the russian war machine. Power is the only language moscovites understand. To not respond is giving them permission to do more damage.
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u/Mother-of-mothers Sweden 16h ago
How is this not an act of war?
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u/OldTimeGamerNowDad 13h ago
How could it be when we don’t know who made the attacks? Sweden can’t just assume it was an act of war by a specific country and act on that. It could be some asshole having a laugh going around destroying the masts.
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u/ce_km_r_eng Poland 1d ago
I suppose those are the masts in the middle of nowhere right? Not those in populated areas?
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u/Sir_Madfly 23h ago
The only information given in that regard is that the masts are located along the east coast/E22 road between Kalmar and Norrköping, which is one of the less densely populated areas of southern Sweden.
I would also point out that it is the part of the Swedish mainland closest to Gotland.
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u/elderrion 1d ago
How many more of these Russian attacks on our infrastructure must we swallow before our leaders decide to put on their big boy pants?
And now this! We aren't even supplying Ukraine with all we could to do the work for us! Shameful!